The Year
by Taiyalin
Summary: New Years comes with surprises and to Amy, Wave and Tikal, the gift of astonishment is wrapped around the three new boys that enter their school. Pairings- Amy/Sonic Tikal/Shadow Wave/Silver
1. Chapter 1

**JANUARY **

**Week One**

Besides the window in the back seat of the class, Amy could feel her body quake in piqued expectation and she could hardly contain the throaty squeal she'd been holding for the past five minutes. The class had been silenced long before teaching had commenced, but halfway through, the principal had interrupted the first class of the school's New Year with news.

He had whispered something into their teacher's ear. He looked annoyed at first, but turned into interested curiosity when the last syllable was sung.

When the principal left, the reason why the class was so unobtrusive was then illuminated with the entrance of three males, each adorned with polar opposite clothing and cladded with different mannerisms, but each holding facial structures as the next.

Amy was keenly aware of every body's surprise. Who could blame them? These new guys were drop dead stunning, and she wasn't exaggerating. The first male she noticed had cerulean hair. His locks weren't extensive, not reaching his shoulders; they were just messily done to comfort his sunny face. He looked like the outgoing type, the ones you'd see running and enjoying nature. Amy smiled into her palm and tried hiding her blush.

She inspected the other one next to him. He had silvery hair, longer than the others and looked glossier and kept. His looks were different too, probably mixed race or something tittering close. Amy wasn't sure how to read him, so she figured if she got to talk to him; she'd be able to put adjectives on his forehead.

Then she turned to the last of the three. He resembled the cobalt haired boy and she could be mistaken, but she assumed him and blue haired boy were brothers, or at least something close. He had darker skin, a natural tan, not something you'd get from being out, but through genes. His hair was jet black, adorned in punkish red highlights. Amy realised the most contributing factor of his looks were his eyes. They were a bright rubicund shade, peculiar and alien.

Their names were in order to how she evaluated them: Sonic, Silver and Shadow.

Those names fitted them better than the ones she came up with.

"Class, I want you all to treat our new students fairly, and no New Year's pranks. I wasn't particularly happy with that slug in my medicine drawer."

The class chuckled, many recalling their teacher's hysteric scream.

The educator then motioned each of them to take a seat. Surprisingly, there were a lot of free seat scattered around, and for a reason, they each chose to sit rather far from the other. It was as if they didn't know each other or they just didn't want to be associated. Amy eyed them in question as they nuzzled themselves in the wooden seats, but she held no tongue to speak to them, and she sure as hell wasn't going to allow her voice to be silent from greeting the hunks. Not when she saw Sally Acorn eyeing Sonic.

* * *

"I'm telling you Cream, those three are super-hot." Amy fanatically squealed into her palms. She slurped up the last contents of her strawberry milkshake later bur clearly heard the sigh her best friend gave her across the table.

"You're being fanatical Ames. Again and slowly, tell me why you're so cooped up about them?" Cream gently asked, she's drinking a cola, appreciating the fuzzy drink as it glided down her parched throat.

Amy rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't understand how single ladies feel Cream. You're hitched with Tails for like five months now, and I'm still single and free. I want to keep my options you know."

"Okay, I get it." Cream ended up saying, and then she suddenly leaned across the table, giving Amy a knowing smile. "Then who do you like best between the three?"

Amy sighed affectionately, feeling her heart heat up considerably. "Why, who else could it be but Sonic? He's cheerful, funny, and really athletic; I think we are soul mates Cream."

"Again, fanatical,"

"I'm not obsessed; it's just that he stands out more than the rest okay?" Amy said, a bit louder than she intended to.

Cream raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. She eyed Amy apologetically. "Sorry Ames, but you just seemed more zealous than genuinely interested."

"Yeah, I kind of do that a lot huh? I'm just clingy; it's a curse and a blessing." Amy mumbled lowly as she nibbled onto her straw.

Cream did a friendly act by patting her clasped hands. "Don't worry Amy; even though you do come off as clingy, you're very outgoing and welcoming. I think those traits are your best makings, and if Sonic doesn't accept the full package, I don't think he's the right one."

Amy smiled at Cream, thankful for the words. "Thanks Cream, but don't talk as if I was rejected already. I haven't even said a word to him yet."

"Well, that won't do…" Cream frowned, but showed something else Amy thought as mischief. "Why not introduce yourself now then?"

When Cream pointed behind her, Amy held her breath as soon as her eyes laid sight on Sonic's wild blue hair and sun kissed cheeks entering the ice-cream parlour. He was cladded in the same attire; a white undershirt underneath a black and blue stripped hoodie; the blue darker against the black and denim trousers that slightly sagged at his ankles. His sneakers screamed cool.

She couldn't help but ogle all the way until he reached the bar table, animatedly talked with the waiter, and ordered something. A drink maybe, but Amy was sure he wasn't staying longer than ten minutes.

"His alone, and looks kind of lost. It's the perfect opportunity to get to know him." Cream said, trying to convince her friend to get going. "Why are you being shy?"

"I'm not being shy; I'm just testing the waters." Amy barked, turning away as Sonic decided to roam his eyes around. It came to no surprise that a couple of the other girls were already staring at him. The ones that didn't were with their boyfriends. "And will you stop pushing me? I think I can handle this on my own."

"Then why aren't you standing up and going to talk to him then?"

"I said I'm testing the waters."

"You haven't even said a decent hello." Cream replied back, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes into slits. "You're going to lose out."

Amy sat there quietly, and thought about Cream's words. Why was she being so defiant towards talking to the dude? She could just come up and say hi, then she'd go with the flow and hopefully get his number before he leaves. That was her routine to talking to other random guys, and even though Sonic was a random guy, his aura made it impossible for her to think like that. He was normal, his looks were alien and desired and even she felt that she lost out to looks.

Wait, and did he care about appearances? If so, that would automatically make him uncommitted right? Oh god, she didn't even know anything about him too. What if he had a girlfriend? What if said girlfriend caught her flirting with him…was she even going to flirt? She was capable of doing so, but was it worth it to be humiliated like that?

Cream could see the battle being played in Amy's head. She sighed, and tried to bring her friend back to reality. "Hey you're thinking too much about it. Just go with the flow."

Amy probably didn't hear her. It meant that she was into it deep then. Seriously, Cream never knew of anyone who could make Amy so indecisive about her mannerisms towards the opposite sex. If anyone managed to change a decision that Amy made, that be a novel prize act just there.

"Hey, you're in my History class, right?"

Cream blinked at the new voice, and then tilted her head to face the male who caught Amy's undivided attention with a single breath. He was holding Amy's shoulder, and Cream could only smile at the bright flush of pink that coloured Amy's cheeks.

"Hello, you must be Sonic." Cream grinned, smiling sweetly at him, also stalling time so Amy could pull herself together. She saw his face crumble into surprise. She only shrugged it off. "News travels fast in our school."

That made him grin. Cream thought her heart would pound, but it only thudded slightly. It assured her that she really was deeply in love with Tails. _Good sign_

"I'm Cream by the way."

He looked at her with widened eyes. "No way, you're Tail's girlfriend?"

"You know Tails?" _Amy, hurry up already._

Sonic nodded, and finally released his hand from Amy's shoulder. He stretched a bit and smiled. "Yeah, we are best buds. You're lucky; he's a really nice guy."

"Oh that I know." Cream said, unconditionally smiling way deeper than she intended to. She ignored her own flush of red and then decided to concoct some mischief. "This is Amy and she is my best friend."

"Oh, yeah, nearly forgot about her."

Amy twitched and Cream couldn't contain her mirth.

"Excuse me, your order?" The waiter called, leaving Sonic to say goodbye to Cream and Amy before getting his doggy bag and leaving the parlour, the bell chiming as it opened and closed.

"He didn't…he didn't just say he overlooked my presence right?"

Cream giggled. "…despite with his hand on your shoulder? I think he did."

* * *

By nightfall, Amy had taken herself and a pack of potato chips into her room, her laptop and cell phone on her bed as she pushed herself into the covers.

Her room was as vibrant as her. Bright pink drapes gave the room a rosy colour during the day, and mellowed it out when night fell. She liked pale colours as well, hence the reason why she decided to have a creamy bleached carpet trailing each corner of her floor. Amy liked her room. It was spacious enough to contain her comforting bed, her two nightstands, and the closet that rested behind two doors, a personal bathroom and a small fridge. The large mirror currently centred in her room was movable, but she kept it there, right in the centre for no apparent reason.

Her laptop then beeped, and out came her video cam lighting a dull red. She smiled and entered the video chat.

"Good evening Wave. Hey Tikal," She greeted her friends, munching on a chip. "What are you two up to?"

Wave was in another box, a wrench in her hand. "I'm fixing Storm's board. The fool left it in the rain, saying that he didn't have time to clean it himself. Now it's rusty around the wheels and I was sure I made the metal water-proof."

Amy nodded, not the slightest bit interested with Wave's crew. Particularly because she despised Jet, "Tikal, what's up? I don't think you're experiencing any troubles as well."

Tikal smiled sweetly. Really, Amy knew her looks could never compare to Tikal's. "Well, I'm not troubled at all, but I am curios though, about you and this new guy in your History class."

"Oh, I want to know about that too. So what's up? You've got a crush on him don't yah?" Wave slyly snickered and waved the wrench around. Amy couldn't help but flush at her estimation. It made the possibility of denying a long way home.

"His name is Sonic, right?" Tikal asked, also astonished by the male who's gotten Amy and many other girls' attention. "He's the talk right now. He and the other two have really reeled in the popularity points, and to think, they just arrived today."

"Well that's to be expected with looks like that." Wave whistled, polishing the board affectionately. She briefly ignored it after a second, and gave an impish grin towards Amy. "Amy has got bigger competition though."

The rosette raised her brows. "How so?"

Tikal giggled. "Amy, I'm sure you're fully aware of Sally Acorn's interest with Sonic."

Amy rumbled at the mention of 'Queen Bee'. It was no hush-hush secret that she and Sally equally disliked the other. They attended the same kindergarten, entered primary school with glowers and reached high school with stuck-up remarks and snide comments. Gossips about the other escalated, but Amy knew Sally never spread them. It was her friends who did the bidding.

And now a new factor arrived to begin the fervent feud once again.

"Have you even talked to him yet?" Tikal asked later.

Amy reeled from her thoughts, and entered self-regret almost instantly.

"Guessing from the way you look, it didn't go well." Wave observed.

"I didn't even squeak when he touched my shoulder at the parlour. If Cream wasn't there, I would have skedaddled out of there." Amy told them about every detail she knew, and was pacified with the reinforcement Wave and Tikal gave her. Though the cackle that came from Wave when she told them about how he overlooked her was an eye twitch-er.

"It's good that Cream was there. Now he knows your name. Judging by his character, I don't think he'd pass you by without a good morning." Tikal told her, leaning her face into her palms. She looked tired and Amy didn't want to lessen the time for her sleep. It was already 11pm.

Wave tiredly yawned into her hands. "Okay, so are we done consoling you Ames? I want to go to sleep. I need the strength to pummel Storm tomorrow."

"Wave, don't be mean to Storm. I'm sure he's sorry." Tikal chided, yawningly.

Wave's box bleeped closed after a bluntly put good bye. Tikal shook her head and also bid her farewell, assuring Amy that tomorrow might be better than today. Amy said her thanks, dropped her chips in the drawer and placed her phone on alarm. Her laptop shut off and she placed it under her bed before she walked into her bathroom, brushed her teeth and went to sleep after switching the lights off.

* * *

Amy met up with Tikal on the way to school the next day. Her pink hair was adorned with her favourite headband, and she wore a faded pink dress with a black sash that did well with her denim jacket. Amy adjusted her shoulder bag and briefly continued walking with Tikal.

In no longer than a second did they hear the sound of wheels hurling around gravel. Wave was beside them in an instant, carrying two boards and her bag as she walked with them.

"So," Wave began after a yawn. "Any news yet about whom Sonic is crushing on?"

"I don't think he is, besides, we don't even know him well. I don't think assuming things about his social life are anything less than starting rumours. "Tikal chided in a hush tone.

"Oh, please Tikal. Sonic is one of the most coveted dudes in school now. Rumours and anything else would be obvious now."

Amy scoffed. "It's been two days Wave. Seriously, how fast can someone become this famous?"

"You have heard of Wanted Five right?" Wave asked pointedly, crossing the street and waiting for the other two to reach. "It's the most dumbest and supercilious thing that was made up, but is still something stuck into everyone's mind."

Amy and Tikal nodded. They both knew about that list. It was the top five names of the students that achieved the highest ranking in the social life of school. It was usually texted, and always by a blocked number, so tracing it wasn't something really easy. Wave had tried.

"Anyways, those three boys have kicked three of the others off the list, and only two others remain."

"Who?" Amy asked in wonder. She guessed she received the text, but her phone died of low battery by the time she awoke.

Wave pointed at Tikal. The brunette blinked in surprise. "What did I do?"

"Your number one followed by Sonic, Shadow, Sally and Silver."

Tikal sputtered, eyes unfocused while Amy blinked, not surprised that Tikal was number one, but because Sally was way closer in ranks to Sonic than she was. Her mind was working mechanics and she suddenly felt woozy. She didn't seem to notice the crack on the floor, and only realised that she was falling when she heard something fall on concrete.

Amy thought it was her, but no pain whatsoever took over, but knew she clearly fell. She did, however notice the strange stare Wave and Tikal were giving her, and the view of their cascading hair and shadowed faces meant that she was lying down. Amy put two and two together before the words mumbled out from behind her.

"Get off me; you're heavy."

Amy scrambled up instantly and turned to stare at the male standing up, dusting the dirt off his clothes. Amy knew exactly who he was, and wasn't sure if she was happy to see him enough to overlook what he said. She weighed it out, and figured anger was better suited than thank you and running away.

"You're really rude. Telling me that I'm heavy like that,"

Shadow was walking passed her, ignoring her with a gruff scoff. Wave narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. He had good looks, but a very nasty personality. She wondered what quality about him made him third. If she looked without her pride, Wave was certain that his anti-social aura, enigmatic demeanour and leanly moulded body were the contributing factors.

But before he was out of earshot, Tikal amazed Amy and Wave. "Are you okay?" It was clearly obvious that she wasn't asking Amy. Shadow rotated, only giving a sidelong glance at Tikal whom was benevolently smiling, and Wave was startled to see how genuine she was being towards someone so…gruff.

Amy hadn't even expected a reply.

"Yeah,"

He then turned a corner, and disappeared into the school grounds, effectively zoning himself into the bustle.

Amy whirled around and turned to Tikal, who looked satisfied. Before Amy could mutter a word, Tikal spoke. "Amy, are you alright?"

Wave laughed when Amy left her mouth agape. "Oh Tikal, I think I know why your number one…you leave people speechless."

* * *

**This is my very first fanfic story _**

**So if I do get a review, it'd be my first, so please, don't go easy on me...**

**Oh, hope you enjoyed the story though, I really wanna complete it too. **


	2. Chapter 2

**JAN**

**WEEK TWO**

* * *

"I don't get it," Wave began, a breath short of staking the person whom decided to wake her from her afternoon nap. "Why do _I_ have to go _with_ you?"

Jet stood at her door, rocking back and forth, and she wondered how close it was before he lost footing and fell down the front stairs. "'Cause, my mom said so…"

"Your mom wants me to come along to visit some people I don't know?" She asked, eyeing him and gauging his sanity. "You're a fool to think I'd fall for that."

"I know you won't, just wanted to hear how far your words will go before I fall asleep standing." Jet joked, leaning near the door and Wave had the sudden feeling of slamming it in his face. She decided that that would wake up her dad so she settled for seething. "Come on Wave, I'm running some dumb errand and want to hit the tracks later. It'd be a waste of time for me to go and come back to pick you up."

"I don't want to board,"

Jet scoffed. "You're a fool to think I'd fall for that."

Wave scoffed herself. Who gave him the permission to mimic her words? "Fine, I'm going to get my board."

"You aren't going to change?" He asked after she suddenly appeared with her board as promised.

Wave curved a brow. "You do want to live, right Jet?"

"Fine, wanna race there?"

Before Wave could fatly decline, Jet was jumping on his board and rushing up the street, his loud cackle traveling through her tired mind way too fast for comfort. She sped after him, her rider's pride and dignity held into place.

Minutes later, Wave grew tired of her board and decided to walk along the sidewalks with Jet. She noticed the beige envelope being fiddled around his hands and she pointed at it. "What are you giving these people?"

"The envelope you're pointing at,"

Wave rolled her eyes. "I know that-"

"So why'd you ask?"

She didn't like how he cackled; it was annoying, so to say. "Forget it; just wanna know what's in that envelope."

"It ain't your business to know, so don't ask." Jet told her, shifting the paper away from her reach, not that she was planning to snatch it, but it didn't mean the thought hadn't crossed her mind.

She remained quiet, instead watching along the streets as children laughed, played and allowed hoards of sweat and grime to cover their dainty figures. She could still hear the wails of her neighbourhood behind, and that left some sort of comfort in her. At least she knew she was a skateboard away. When she tucked her idle hands into her pockets, they'd felt sweaty against the air, she knew that she couldn't be homesick this fast, so whatever it was that made her queasy was someplace close. She darted her eyes around the unfamiliar street.

It was probably why Jet stopped to watch her, and this time, he gauged her level headedness. "What are you doing? You're acting suspicious."

"I'm not…" She lamely excused, tucking her hands deeper into her jeans. Jet could see the irregularity of her denim as her fingers tried to clench and unclench. "I'm just…feeling kinda…I don't know. Something's up okay and I just don't like walking around some neighbourhood I don't even know."

"So you're homesick? You do know the school is way farther than this, right?"

She fed him a look of contempt. "Of course, I'm just feeling like a weed okay?"

He raised a brow and felt around for the envelope. Good, she wasn't playing lunatic. "Like a weed?"

Wave darted a look aside, and nodded, not wanting to stare at him any longer, but the sight of street lights aligned correspondingly and the different people and how the houses seemed uniquely different made her seem out of her place. She knew it sounded dumb to her, but she felt like an outcast here, and she thought that Jet fitted here better. He looked the part.

"I'm just feeling left out, I don't really know how I figured that out, and I just do. So don't bug me on it." She said with an ending sigh and was faintly surprised with the conceded nod Jet shot her way; he wasn't one to agree to her demands so easily. She bit her tongue, holding off words as they stepped deeper and further and made her feel left out again.

She hadn't known that her chin was pushed against her collarbone until the presence of heat radiated to her side. Jet stood beside her, his shoulder higher than hers tried giving her a shove. She giggled, covering her mouth to hide the toothy grin she gave him for trying to comfort her weirdness. He moved forward and she slapped his back. "Thanks, so are you willing to tell me where we are going then?"

"We're close,"

"How close?"

Jet stopped suddenly, making Wave bump into his back. She messaged her nose as she moved to the side and eyed a very tall building that would have come off as a skyscraper. Odd, she hadn't noticed that they were deep into the metropolis until now. Jet probably took a short cut without her noticing. "So, it's this close huh? Okay, so let's go in then."

Jet snapped, and craned his neck to the side. "You're acting suspicious, should I really come in with you?"

"You've got the nerve to say that again?" She threatened, punching his arm as a promise for something else. He shrugged it off, and entered the double doors, not at all considering that he left her standing like a fool as it closed. She rushed through herself and caught up to him in the elevator.

"Who the heck lives here?" She asked later when the silver doors slid closed and the hum of the machine began to sooth her somewhat. "It looks pricey," She whistled after the doors opened, revealing a spacious interior with so little numbers doors, she wondered how much this building could afford anything else from the money these occupants paid for stay.

"It is, don't touch anything Wave. Your house could be the price of that painting over there," He said, walking left as she followed.

Somehow, she didn't feel queasy anymore and only felt blessed. Seeing this building outside during her times around the city hadn't really interested her, but after a singer or was it actor had been rumoured to enter this same establishment a while back; the building had enthralled something in her. She knew that this grand of a building held even grander tech, and she so badly wanted to see, touch and tweak.

"We're here," Jet said sighing noncommittally at best. He held out the envelope as he knocked, and Wave stood behind him, wanting to lean casually against a wall, but she realised the space was too big, and that'll make her look even more doubtful than she felt. She leaned next to his arm, way too close by mistake.

The door clicked, and out came a mess of cobalt and a range of white teeth staring. She blinked, recognised that this was Sonic, whom had Ames attention since week one. Wave resisted the urge to text the girl.

"Here," Jet held out the one thing she wanted to know from him so badly since he came around. "My old man wanted you to give it to your old man." So he was fooling her, it wasn't his mother…

"Ah, thanks Jet…" Sonic said evenly, taking the envelope and made a move behind the door which was followed by a jiggle of keys. Wave guessed he threw the thing on a table. "Hard to believe their best friends, right?"

"Old coots shouldn't drink beer and talk about soccer and girls…"

"…at the same time?"

"At the same time," Jet ended, mocking disturbance and Wave just stood there, wondering if neither of the two had wits to notice that she was alive. She sighed, and pocketed her hands, now she really had the urge to text Amy so she could apologize for laughing when Sonic ignored her presence as well. She sighed again, at least that'd make their bond better, right?

"If you're that tired, take a nap of the floor, its comfortable."

She glared at Jet and gave him a punch that hurt her more than it did him. "If I could do karate, I'm sure the motion would be great for you."

"I'd love to see that,"

"You're a creep for wanting your-"

Sonic cut her off with a chuckle. "You're girlfriend's funny."

Jet stared at him, really stared and Wave couldn't help but concede with the motion as well. "We are not dating!"

It was a lunatic thought, a dumb thought and a thought that never passed through her until now. She and Jet combined with togetherness that didn't involve scolding, arguments or anything called friendship was a bond of pure displeasure. She shivered,

"You insult me Sonic. I could never date someone as bossy as Wave." Jet told the green eyed male and took her arm, shaking her and she felt her stomach do a dance. She slapped his arm and glared at him. "I hate it when you do that."

"You two suit, that's all," Sonic said, leaning his body against the door. Wave turned to give him a glare of her own.

"If you're so caught up in people's relationship, why don't you go dating and evaluate them instead?" She said, bluntly and as hard as she could get. This had made Storm shiver, but Sonic only brightened up, as if receiving this sort of treatment was normal for him.

She scoffed. How could she be surrounded by abnormalities?

"Well, we've got to go anyways." Jet said, taking her arm. "The lobbyist might think our boards are trash and throw them away."

"My boards are not trash." Wave barked angrily.

Sonic crunched his brows. "You bought yourself and Jet boards?" The way he said it made Wave even madder.

"I don't buy boards, I make them. I hate it when I enter stores that sell boards with trucks and bearings I haven't approved of. Besides, mine are better." She said, praising her unseen work with pride. The sight of Jet rolling his eyes didn't dampen her love for her boards.

"Jet, you should really date this girl. She's amazing,"

"Over my dead body," Jet and Wave seethed in unison and stomped away, heading for the elevator.

"Hey, Wave?" Sonic called behind.

She turned around, a quizzical look on her face. "Speak up."

"I want to order some boards,"

"And what of it?"

She saw him grin earnestly. "I want you to make them,"

Jet and Wave blinked owlishly, and stared at him. He looked genuine, Wave noted as his grin wavered into a simple smile. "So, you'll do it?"

"What if the price is higher than the norm?" She asked, crossing her arms under her chest. Truth was, she never sold her boards, actually, she never made any for anyone besides hers, and Jet's, Storm's and currently she's working on Cream's and Amy's. Tikal didn't do skateboarding, but the interest was there, Wave just had to wait for the girl to agree to training.

"Jet, are the boards good?" Sonic asked suddenly. Jet nodded, a solemn look plastered across his face. "Best I'd ever known, and you know me, I know a lot."

Wave rolled her eyes, but smiled at the compliment. "Is that enough clarification to trust workings you've never seen before?"

"I am going to pay, you know."

She nodded at the said words. "Fine, you pay and I make. I'll send you the bill…"

"Through me," Jet said. She nudged him.

"…and give you your boards personally. How's that?"

"Doesn't matter, as long as I get three ASAP,"

Wave nodded, her business like pride giving her a bigger head. "Good, then the transaction is soon to be processed."

* * *

Wave sat down in Algebra, a mild headache nuzzling her senses, enough to make her snappy. She frowned into her palm, holding a pencil above the blank paper, recalling how she felt like a crocodile when she talked to Jet after the meet with Sonic the day before. She remembered how excited she was for getting some sort of recognition and even though Sonic hadn't seen her boards, she was glad he acknowledged her competence through her demeanour.

She was so happy, she eagerly accepted Jet's proposal to the ramps, and when he…declined his own suggestion, he raced off, leaving her in a part of the city she didn't even know. The fool realised his mistake of course, but that didn't justify the fact he left her, just because he saw a cute girl walking down the avenue. It was incredible that Jet had a hawk's eye, because frankly, that girl looked like an ant in Wave's eyes.

_Idiot, leaving me there made me look bad._

She tiredly sighed, and began sketching her work, not at all listening when the teacher assigned them projects.

"Wave Swallow, you may be my star pupil, but that leaves you no rights to ignore my teachings." The Algebra teacher said, his face suddenly there when she closed her book and turned to look left. She narrowed her eyes, the retort present on her tongue, she bit it and nodded. She swallowed her pride and apologized. Her mother raised her in manners, she shouldn't forget that.

She relaxed when he turned back to explain the assignment.

"You should be thrown in detention." Behind her desk, Wave heard the words spew with distaste, and without a second thought, she rotated and laughed.

"I'd like that very much Typhoon."

"Oh that's good, why don't you two share two hours of your time together after school then?" Their teacher said his smile unpleasant even during the morning. Wave scoffed into her palm and nodded, not at all bothered, she needed the extra time anyways.

She took a glimpse of Typhoon, her frown and promise of bothering, and Wave felt depressed.

* * *

"How'd you get detention?" Storm asked with blinking wide eyes. It was lunch and Wave felt like talking to him.

She rolled her shoulders, really not bothered but still very annoyed. "That girl with the name that reminds me of wind did it."

"Amy?"

"How does her name remind you of wind?" Wave asked, deeply furrowing her brows.

"She speaks fast, moves quicker than the normal girls and has a lot to say in little time…" Storm ended, scratching his cheek and making Wave heartily laugh.

"You're right there, but no, it isn't Amy, its Typhoon."

He nodded, flicking hair here and there. Wave resisted her sisterly instincts of putting them back in place. "Oh, Jet's girlfriend,"

"Didn't they break up in September?"

He shrugged. "Didn't they hook up in November?"

"You've got a point, Jet is wishy-washy, speaking of the devil, where is he anyways?" She asked, straining her eyes over the terrain of the cafeteria. She hadn't heard his laugh since yesterday night when he called to apologize for the brief ditching. She couldn't see him anywhere.

"Don't know, probably causing trouble, I'm gonna look for him." Storm stood up, holding his tray of food before throwing it into the trash. Wave was about to follow him, but he held his large palm into her face. She moved slightly to stare at him in question. "You should stay here…" He then glanced to the side, and Wave followed, there coming towards them was Sonic, a skip to his walk, and a grin Wave felt like peeling off ,no matter how cute it made him seem, it was getting too much. "He wants to talk to you."

She nodded and Storm walked off, greeting Sonic with a pat on the back. Balance, he didn't have balance, and Wave wasn't surprised from the near fall. His agility helped him there, and she cursed it, she wanted a good laugh.

"So," She began as he sat down across the table, "What do you want sunny boy?"

"Sunny boy is that what people call me?"

_No, but Amy does… _Wave shook her head. "Nope, you just smile too much, anyways, what's with the visit, I don't want to be exposed to your followers over there."

They both moved to see the group of girls staring directly at their table. Sonic smiled at them, some blushed and waved while others stared at her, and no source of innocence came from them when they did. Wave knew the language, and she shook her head, many nodded, but their eyes weren't consoled, they still showed wariness.

_Dumb freaks, why would I date…_she watched Sonic up and down; he was staring at Sally as she rounded into the cafeteria_…this person?_

"Are the boards coming around then?" He asked her, and she almost nodded unconditionally when Amy noticed his stare.

"What? Oh...nope, didn't begin; only sketched up your design. I wanted to ask you about the other two."

"Yeah, what about them?" He inquired, and she felt kind of foolish, but she needed to know.

"I don't know which design I'm going to do. I doubt that all three are yours…"

"They aren't; two belong to my pals," He said, adding.

"Yeah, that's the problem, I can't make a design for them since I've got no idea who they are, or what they prefer. I only realised that when I began sketching yours. So is it okay for me to meet them, ask them what they prefer so I can incorporate them in their designs." She ended saying, feeling that her business modesty was taking her to yonder.

She saw Sonic nod, and he gave her a chuckle. "Wow, didn't know you'd be serious about this. You must be really committed."

"I am, after all, money is a good motivator."

"You aren't hiding your intent?"

Wave nodded blankly at him. "Why would I? I'm doing this for the money, nothing else, plus I like creating designs and bringing them to life, I'm just that ambitious."

"Yet you aren't dating Jet…"

Wave rolled her eyes; she didn't want to talk about it with him. "No, I am not, so who are you're friends then?"

"Oh, Shadow and Silver, I'll call them over real quick," He was beginning to stand and look around the cafeteria, his eyes catching sight of the two rather quicker than she did. "I told them about you, and they didn't mind, as long the boards were of fine quality, they'd pay."

She nodded, caught sight of the two as well. She saw Shadow and nearly scoffed. "Don't call over Shadow. I already met him, and his impression is imbedded into my mind since week one, so don't."

"Only Silver?"

"Yeah, but he looks busy with some girls, so I can't disturb him now, maybe later."

Sonic nodded, and stuck his hands into his pocket. "Okay, so why don't you two meet after school. That way you'd get to have all the designs before going home, right?"

Wave frowned deeply; she nearly forgot she had detention. "Can't. The teacher gave me and some girl detention, staying for two long hours, maybe tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay. I'll tell him, give me your number so I'd text you later." He said, pulling out his phone and pressing down her digits.

She glanced at the group of girls, whom looked furious, and she shook her head at them, more humoured than annoyed. When she thought of flirting with Sonic when he first arrived, she hadn't known that Amy had it for him, and when she did, she stepped off that pedestal and easily soothed into the line. Anyways, she did think of Sonic attractive, but wasn't interested; the motive was to anger people like the ones staring at her so contemptuously.

Though, she did wonder if Sally and Amy noticed.

* * *

"This is so unfair," Amy whined, her face puppy like with tears as she gripped Wave's phone, staring at the name 'Sonic' and the digits below it. "How could he give you his number before me? Doesn't he know I've fallen head over heels for him?"

Tikal giggled as Wave snatched her phone. The whining commenced. "Amy, you've already memorized his number, why not text him?"

"And come off as a stalker?" Amy asked, looking at Tikal with displeasure towards the advice. "I think not,"

"Aren't you already a stalker? I don't see the problem." Wave coolly remarked and smirked as Amy punched her shoulder. Wave shook her head and laughed. "Why are you two escorting me to detention? I feel like a criminal you know."

Tikal shook her head, carrying Wave's board for her. "Well it is your fault for being tricked into it."

"It was a mistake,"

"The outcome doesn't change." Tikal shot back, holding a finger across the deck. She inspected the design and smiled. "You're a beautiful artist Wave; I'd love to make clothes with these designs. Why not help me out?"

"Learn how to skateboard, and I will."

Amy laughed and smacked Tikal's back. "Sooner or later Wave gets her way Tikal, why don't you want to skateboard? You afraid, it isn't that high above the ground you know?"

"I'm not acrophobic it's just that the aspect of falling isn't something very appealing." Tikal confessed, sighing as she watched the design in envy.

"Don't you ride a bike? Two wheels right?" Wave asked and Tikal nodded. "Didn't you fall off?"

"I don't remember falling, only remember tripping and losing some skin around the ankles though." That made Tikal grin and it would have been wicked if her face wasn't soft featured. Amy and Wave laughed though, and it made Wave feel happier as she finally reached detention. A peek through the small window showed Typhoon looking bored and sleepy.

Amy and Tikal said goodbye, and left with Wave's board, promising to drop it home. Wave thanked them and entered detention half-heartedly.

* * *

Wave stepped into Rotor's garage and gave him the biggest grin she could ever muster. The scent of crude oil, muck, and labour filled her nostrils, and she held her breath, killing her mind with the fragrance of what she adored.

Rotor leaned across his worktable, cleaning sprockets and gears, having a wrench to his left shinning but holding that smell of grease.

Wave had to sigh at the comfort. "This place is heaven,"

Rotor chuckled, wiping his tools as he looked her up and down. "Not many girls are like you Wave. They don't appreciate how they got their fancy cars."

"The less people appreciate something, the more special it is." She told him, taking a stroll around and eyeing the shelves, gazing at the muster of tools and other treasures that flickered with the sun. "Rotor, I wish my mom would allow you to refurnish our garage."

"It'd be better if I build you one."

She laughed, holding a hammer and screwdriver. "Is that a free offer I hear?"

"It's a joke, but I don't mind the fair donation of 5K though." He said, and she turned, finding him swinging a gulp of beer.

"You're a bad influence."

He heaved a happy sigh. His thirst quenched. "If you drink and drive you're gonna crash." He coughed and turned to the side, grinning at her as she came over and sat next to him. "Is that satisfactory enough?"

Wave shrugged and pulled out her sketch pad. "Yeah, whatever, so, getting to business, how'd you expect me to make these boards?"

Rotor grinned, chugged another sizzling gallop and inspected the drawings. "I'm not saying this 'cause I'm drunk…"

"You aren't, so stop pretending."

"Good eye…oh, and the designs are amazing. You've got an engineer's hands." He complimented, slurred words forced out of his mouth as she threw away the bottle.

"You're dumb, how old are you anyways?"

"Old enough to know that I ain't any drunken paedophile," He said, faking a hiccup and giving her a toothy grin. He wasn't sober, but he wasn't drunk either. "Going back to what I see, I like the black and red board, holds a lot of mystery and anger. The un-shaded vines beneath, that's cool and very Goth of you. Who's it for?"

"Some dude with the same features of the vines." She said, flailing a hand up before going back to her drawings. "Okay, so you prefer the enigmatic board, but what can you tell from the other one?" She said as she pointed to the design incorporating Sonic's character.

Rotor furrowed his brow and laughed. "I can tell that this board is for someone who makes people laugh. The blue doesn't remind me of water or the sky too. It's a nice deep shade, full of energy, and I like the strips along the wheels. You intend them to look polished right?"

"Yeah, that's the plan. A bright red mixed with blue. Almost an opposite to a race car…"

"Not exactly, but yeah, I guess there is the similarity. Red is a favoured sport's car colour. You watched the game last night?"

She scoffed. "Yeah, I knew the Germen would win. His wheels and steering made it evident."

Rotor nodded, made a move for soda, but Wave slapped his hand. "I don't know if this is soda or not, but obviously Jet learned something from you, and I suspect it this." She held up the can, smelled it and wrenched. It was soda, but the bottle reeked of alcohol. "I know he drinks beer when he says its soda. But I can never tell if he's drinking soda or beer when he says he's drinking beer."

"Umm…repeat that will yah?"

"Never, thinking about that douche makes my head ache." She said, holding a hand to her temple. The thought of Jet and Storm getting high made her mad even though they were smart enough to say no, they liked the thrill of breaking laws.

"Okay, enough about Jet, let's talk about how you're going to use my shop-"

"You don't make me laugh, this isn't a store."

He coughed and rolled his shoulders. "Don't upset my happy strike Wave; you do want to us this place, so don't. Anyways, as I was saying, let's use my _shop_ and get some great veneers to begin with making the decks. You can use my trucks and bearings, but you've got to buy the paint and wheels."

Wave nodded as she looked around the fridge. She narrowed her eyes at the alcohol. "Fine, as long as I get to use the drill and spray painter, I don't care."

"How enthusiastic young locust"

"I'm a prodigy and you watch too many Kung Fu movies."

"Jack Black and Angelina Jolie have graced Kung Fu!"

She laughed. "Really, I haven't watched Kung Fu Panda in my life."

"You're younger than eighteen, I'm sure your life needs action." Was he really drunk or just playing? Wave was in too deep in laugher to care.

"Sure okay, run the movie and bring out the popcorn, I can't wait to see a chubby bear show me the thrill of Kung Fu."

"Great, now you're a prodigy." Rotor hooted and did a jig. Seriously, was he drunk?

* * *

**So? How was it? Bad or Good? Horrendous or Marvellous? I don't mind any...and yeah, got a review, I'm new, so of course I'm happy... ^.^ **

**Gonna update soon, so I hope anyone reading and not reviewing feels better.**


	3. Chapter 3

**First fanfic story, hope it satisfies...**

* * *

**JANUARY**

* * *

**WEEK THREE**

* * *

Tikal stood tip toed against the lines of shelves, each edge pressed against her body as she moved her fingers over the highest, searching and mingling over the dust and long dead pile of insects scattered here and there. Remnants entered her nails, she could feel it. The shelf was collecting filth, and she was profoundly aware that Wave hadn't made any inclination to cleaning it up since she renovated her bedroom, and that was a very long time ago.

"Why is Amy's necklace way up here?" She questioned, keeping her body vertically positioned on the small stool holding her feet above the floor.

"Predicaments happen," Wave pronounced, making shifting sounds as she looked through her schoolbag, searching for a pencil and eraser. The necklace she lost about a month or so ago had appeared up there miraculously. She'd seen it shimmering during the morning light before. "Though, I don't know how it got up there."

"I think the main concern is that you stole my necklace." Amy pointed out vehemently as she munched on the French fries she had bought before coming over to Wave's. "I can't believe you'd stoop that low Wave."

Tikal rubbed her ribs and continued looking for Amy's trinket. "I don't get why you took it."

"I thought it was a rose…"

"It's a heart pendant!" Amy yelled, shocked and angry.

"I had the same reaction." Wave murmured as she placed the items she took on her desk. It was filled with papers, blank, coloured and sketched. "Really, that thing is ugly. I threw it somewhere; surprisingly my throw was good enough to leave it up there. Maybe I should play baseball after all."

"It cost me twenty."

"I'd have got it for five" Wave voiced, peeling her gaze from Amy's to the sheets of paper. "Piece of crap, besides, forgetting about the dilemma of a lost trinket-"

"Stolen," Amy called.

Wave rolled her eyes. "Tell us Amy, what's your master plan? How do you plan to get Sonic from reeling into the arms of Sally before the week ends?"

Tikal titled her head to the side and took a look at Amy's pensive face. "You do have a plan, right Amy?"

"I doubt she spoke to him since…well…you guys never did talk." Wave pointed out with an amused chuckle. "Amy, seriously, why haven't you said a decent hello yet?"

"Hey, I did. Last week we met in the hallway. He said 'Hey' and I said 'Hello' and he asked me how I was and I replied with a great smile and thanked him once I answered the question. That was a very important step in our relationship." Amy finished, pleased with her accomplishment.

"What kind of relationship is that anyways? You're barely friends." Wave said casually.

"Ah, found it." Tikal announced, carrying the necklace in her dirty palms. Amy gratefully thanked her.

"Wave, people work things out." Amy told her friend as she whipped the dust away. It began to shine anew. "Don't worry."

"I have the right to. The poor boy doesn't even know you keep an eye on his every move. You're a stalker Ames, and that means you're clingy, which by far, hasn't helped you in the department of dating. So you better act coolly about how you react to him before miss fancy Acorn comes along and scoops him up." Wave stopped herself, not having realised what she said had given her lungs time to sue her.

"And what do you expect me to do Wave?" Amy all but barked, "Do you want me to change myself then?"

Tikal could see Wave was offended by the assumption. "I don't want you to change for a dude. It makes things even more screwed up. I just…well I don't know, ask Tikal for advice, I'm not good at giving any."

"Thanks Wave, way to go for the pat on the shoulder gesture." Amy said uncaringly and crossly intersected her arms under her chest, mindlessly nibbling on the fry.

Tikal sighed and looked between the two sulking friends and nearly rolled her eyes at their childishness. "Really you two, I admire how you despise fighting and avoid it by pouting, but you seriously need to change your ways of dealing with your arguments, no matter how foolish they are at times."

"And here comes mother bird dropping the egg of shame," Jet, whom miraculously entered the extract, sniggered, clapping his hands from the hilarity, "Bravo! Bravo! I wouldn't mind an encore of that last scene Tikal. Wave give more passion and Amy, dear, the tears, where are the glistening tears?"

Wave hurled a toy ball at his head; miscalculation by the irritation caused it to hit the door frame, inadvertently hitting Amy's side. Jet guffawed as Amy glared at him, the deep red of her cheeks coloured in anger and embarrassment. Tikal could only stand and watch, resisting the urge to laugh.

"Afternoon Jet," She greeted him during his snorts of laughter.

Holding up a hand, he continued cackling. "Wait until I'm done so I can properly…" He didn't finish until he coughed the last bit of mirth out his system, at least the one caused by Wave and Amy, and a little bit by her. "Anyway, as much as I'd like to hang out and laugh at your moments, I came for another reason entirely."

"Look, I know you think you're doing us a favour for coming here, but seriously, face the music and understand that the tension in this room reads 'Go away Jet'." Wave said, pushing back her stuff into a file after compiling them to her organised standards. But everyone knew she was interested. Jet was always the one to amplify her intrigue.

"Forgetting what my companion says," –Wave snarls at that- "I came solely to talk to Tikal over here."

She batted an eyelid. "Why me?"

"Yeah, why her?" Amy and Wave interrogated in unison, but Wave was eager to add. "What's going on? What are you planning cheapskate?"

Jet sighed and rolled his eyes, finally giving in to the annoyance Wave could lace upon him. "Look, I just came to deliver a message –which could only be done by paying me of course," He smiled to himself there. "It comes from a pal me and Tikal share together who goes by the name of Bark, his surname Polar Bear, but who cares right?"

Oh, Tikal knew him alright, so did Knuckles, and that itself wasn't something very appealing. Jet must have saw her uncertainty and was able to pinpoint the conflict. "Oh, don't worry Tikal, Knuckles doesn't know anything about his sudden appearance in Mobius, but he'll get to know sooner than later."

"What does Knuckles got to do with this Bark person?" Wave asked, eyeing them speculatively, deeper even when Tikal shifted her mouth to gain certain words.

"Those two hate each other's guts." Jet came, slick and easy. "I'm telling you, sparks fly when those two are in the same room, they intensify when Tikal's around. Guess they are both eager to protect this little damsel for a reason that neither of the three want to tell too."

"Family secrets are meant to be family secrets." Tikal muttered, giving Jet a look that read 'Gosh, you're nosy'.

"Okay, I don't care if you guys are hiding a skeleton somewhere, but you do realise whom you guys are talking so languidly about, right?" Amy said, gesturing frantically around and giving Wave's bed a ride. When she received questioning looks from Jet and Tikal and a blank unknowing one from Wave, she blasted. "I can't believe it, Bark Polar Bear is a photographer, a fantastic one who knows how to make a dull rock look majestic! He's taken pictures, and not normal ones like the paparazzi, but gorgeous geological ones. I went to an exhibit of his and I was certain I was drooling over this great picture of an ocean, perfect sunset and beautifully purpled horizon."

"Amy, calm down, you're turning blue." Jet said, pinching the girl's cheeks, but actually hoping she'd bit her tongue. "Yes, you're correct about all that crap, so stop trying to explain, because Wave doesn't even care."

"Hey, I totally do. He is some hotshot photographer, right? I got that in her ranting okay, and that's a prize I'm proud of flaunting." Wave said, making a sassy shake of her head. Tikal laughed as Amy fumed and returned to glorifying Bark's workings. They long muted her out anyways.

"So, what's the message he passed?" Wave asked, releasing Amy from under her pillow. "Must be something big right? Worth dollars I hope."

"Your true colours are showing and I think I've been too long gone now." Jet sighed, scratching his neck momentarily as he stared someplace else. "Look, Tikal, Bark wants you guys to meet. He says he wants to take some photographs because he's taking time this year to teaching wannabe photographers the ropes or something."

"Ohmygosh Tikal, Bark wants to take photographs of you? How lucky," Amy squealed, dumping her head over Wave's shoulder.

Tikal ignored their continued argument and looked at Jet. "So he wants me to do what exactly? Replace the normal fruits in a bowl thing and be his piece?"

"Yap, plus he just wants to meet you again."

"He said that?" She asked, raising her brows.

"Nope, but I can see it clearly in his eyes." Said Jet, complimenting his hawk's eye, "So is that a yes, or should I take pinky instead?"

"He's looking for replacements?" Amy asked, staring wide eyed in hope.

"Amy, please, calm down. You're giving Wave impaired hearing with all that screaming." Tikal warns slowly, shaking her head. "Oh, Jet, tell Bark I'd be delighted to come. Can you text me when and where?"

"Doesn't matter, I'm going too. The must be some cutie photographer aching for more than picture taking. I'll take you when I get the message through."

"Jackass," Wave mumbled, of course loudly.

"Never gonna change anyways." He said, giving Wave a smile, too kind to be kind. He turned to Tikal later. "We'll go when I'm ready, plus bring your somewhat cousin with you. It's fun to see Bark irritated by him and vice versa."

"I'm sure if I kept Knuckles out of the loop; he'd find out and come by himself. He doesn't trust Bark, and that goes either way." She sighs, holding a finger to her temple and trying to think about something rather than the memory of Bark and Knuckles trying to throttle each other. They never were beings to use words to settle their disputes with each other.

* * *

Because he felt like eating something that didn't revolve around fast food which meant he had to converse with dubious looking cashiers whom seemed smarter than they put on, Knuckles decided-grudgingly of course- to give Sonic a short visit, and when he meant short, he actually meant short. Though, he didn't expect to meet up with Julie-Su either, and with her untamed personality, she agreed without invitation to follow suit on his ulterior motives.

She knocked actually, and he stood beside her, feeling more awkward than he thought he would with his girlfriend unperturbed and looking more impatient and like him than he assumed she'd be. And to think, they've been dating for five months now, in a couple of days, it'd be six and he still is puzzled by their similarities.

The door opened not too lately, and out came Sonic's questioning gaze. The smirking just dampened Knuckles's mood further. "So, two lovebirds, what can I do for yah?"

Julie smiled, punched her lover's shoulder and turned the smile into a devious grin. "We came to hang out, that's all there is to it, plus Knuckles here wants to snag up some grub."

Knuckles decided that growling was better than asphyxiating his girlfriend. "You are never subtle." He said, ignoring Sonic's banter of laughing as he pushed himself in, wondering when Sonic decided to block the interior with his body every time someone decided to visit.

The host decided to launch himself in the adjoining kitchen, disappearing as Julie entered without invitation (it became habit for Sonic to leave his guests at the door) and sat her body on the long and comfortable looking couch. She slid her arms around the back, stretching and feeling the comforting fabric between her fingers, somehow through her sighing; Knuckles imagined how her fingers would feel through his hair if he'd kiss her right there and now.

His train of thoughts ended when Sonic dropped a cup when he entered the large living room. "Oops, I've got butter fingers."

"You're just scatter-brained," Julie-Su voiced casually, maybe she was obtuse to realise it was an insult rather than something to console Sonic. Knuckles laughed as Sonic gave a pout.

"You aren't subtle Julie,"

"Why does everyone keep saying that as if I'm trying to be?" She raises her arms dramatically and seethes. Knuckles does the thing he likes doing and punches her head as he grabs the hotdog (chilli-he rolled his eyes) and watches as Sonic cleans up the mess, muttering something akin to cussing.

"You broke something that isn't yours didn't you?" Julie asked, broadening her grin as Sonic's shoulders sag. "Let me guess, must be Shadow's right?"

"This cup cost him nothing, but he got it from some blonde waitress, and he actually liked the style it came with."

Knuckles scoffed. "What? Some black voodoo doll or something?"

Sonic grins. "Came with a gun,"

"Keychain?"

"You'd think me and Silver would let him in with a real one?"

"I'm surprised you let him live with you guys." Julie offhandedly mutters, biting into the food and liking how the chilli burnt her throat. It was a close cry to something alcohol. "How's that going anyways?"

"We're coping," Sonic says, picking up the broken shards of glass that could cause major injuries. He swept up the miniscule ones, but obviously, some still shimmered here and there. "It isn't like he's abusive or anything."

"Where is he anyways? I don't want to talk about the guy with he's here. His presence is really intimidating." Julie uttered and eyed the corridors for good measure. She sighed; she thought he'd pop up somewhere.

"I don't know, never tells, he just says he's leaving. Wonder what he does with his free time…" Sonic says, not really in full thought, but Knuckles could see some sort of worry mark his face. It was so small that it made Knuckles wonder just how much he concentrated on things. Too much, he thought bitterly, way too much.

His phone then vibrated, telling him that someone texted, making it more tempting to ignore whom. Why not just call and get it over with?

Julie rolls her eyes at his reluctance and took the phone from his pocket, but gave him a peck to the lip as she draws back. Knuckles could feel Sonic roll his eyes.

"Huh? Why is Jet texting you?" She asked, eyeing him suspiciously. He only shrugs. "Aren't you supposed to read the message to know?"

With a flip of her hair, she does and when she's done, she laughs. "Okay, Knuckles you aren't gonna like this, but your somewhat cousin is going to hang out with Jet, and before you grow even redder, she's actually going to meet with this Bark guy you keep on telling me about."

Sonic blinked, really seriously with astonishment and some ray of hope that made Knuckles grow so angry, he squeezed Julie's shoulder, getting him a punch to the gut in defence.

He clutched his stomach as Julie glared at him.

"Wait," Sonic began, ignoring the chilidog (surprisingly), "You don't mean Bark, like the Polar Bear Bark? _The_ Bark Polar Bear Bark?"

"How many times are you going to say Bark before I strangle you Sonic?" Knuckles ventures, glaring and pulling a fist up in the air in angered annoyance, "That creep, what the hell is he doing here, this year when I'm getting over last year's shindig?"

Julie continued glowering, "Obviously, you're thinking into this really deeply and allowing Jet to laugh at you. You're making something big out of something small again."

"There's nothing small about Bark!" Sonic and Knuckles simultaneously yelled in unison, of course Sonic looked and felt awed while Knuckles hungered around aggravation. Julie didn't mind whatever; she had to roll her eyes at them both.

"Wow, Bark Polar Bear…" Sonic dreamily muttered, "How does Knuckles know him?"

"Childhood buds,"

"Really, that's kinda creepy. To think Knuckles and Bark…"

"And Tikal,"

Sonic nearly forgot to ask. "Who's this Tikal anyways?"

Knuckles growled. "No one you need to associate with."

"Ex?"

"Hell no!" Julie screeched disbelief at the assumption. "It's his somewhat cousin."

"But they never dated?"

"Sonic, are you addled or something?" Knuckles asks rhetorically, feeling the need to do more than punching a hole. "She's my cousin-somewhat cousin- and I've got no inclination to have her meet with that lowlife of a bastard."

"Knuckles seriously, Tikal isn't some kid to look after anymore." Julie claimed, eating her chilidog happily. "We've grown into high school adults."

"Good choice of words," Sonic commented as he sunk his teeth into the meal.

"Julie, that's why I should be more cautious. Haven't you seen how Tikal has grown? She's attracting men who are half her age, adding a few decades and that'd be a criminal act of paedophilic actions. My guard should be up because-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," She said, coming off rather annoyed. "You promised, but you've forgotten something, Bark is Tikal's legal guardian, no matter how close the age gap is, which is what? Seven or nine years?"

"That is not a close age gap." Sonic adds.

"Don't interrupt my rant," She notifies, giving a look of promise. "I'm just saying, you better let go of this protectiveness of yours before it gets the better of you, plus, if you don't realise how stupid you look whenever you squabble with Bark, I'm seriously going to crash a mirror atop that head of yours, that way we'd get to split the bad luck in half."

"Ferocious, I think that's why I'm smitten with you and I don't like it." He says, needing to do something more with how his smile would turn into a smirk whenever she arrived into the scene and added the action to the romance. Sonic only laughed, nearly forgetting something else besides who was Tikal.

"Oh yeah, what's your deal with Bark anyways, Sonic?"

"He's my role model,"

"Isn't he a bit chubby?" Knuckles asked, clearly confused.

"Not fitness role model dummy," Sonic groans and felt that rolling his eyes would only add to his stress," He's a great photographer, and I'm aspiring to be one, that's why I've applied myself to his weekly classes. He'll be around for a while and I'm taking the chance to learn his shots."

"Didn't know you're a fanatic," Knuckles muttered, eyeing his pal calculatedly, "Doesn't suit you. You are like the wind,"

"What kind of adjective are you trying to pull on exactly?" Julie asked, her mirth hidden in cynicism.

Knuckles bites back a retort. "I'm just saying, you Sonic, aren't one to look at something…I mean, you don't appreciate something for a very long time. I didn't think you'd actually take a camera and walk around taking shots, okay?"

Sonic only shrugs and continues his festivities with the chilidogs.

* * *

Tikal sighed, "You didn't have to tell him Jet."

He gave her a chuckle of sorts, carrying a bag –her bag filled with food- as they walk along the jetty, the air scented with salty essence and cold winds. He grins back at her, and the shadow following slowly behind.

"Knuckles is cranky that's all."

Tikal sighed again, feeling her back gain heat from Knuckles ferocious glare, despite the fact that it was being angled over her shoulder and onto Jet's, Tikal still felt disturbed.

She hadn't expected Knuckles coming to her door, declaring that he'd vouch a war with his fists to whoever said she was going to allow Bark to take pictures of her (she left out the fact that it wasn't him but a couple of strangers who wanted to learn from a star photographer) on a beach. By good fortune, she hadn't given his foot bones anything to kick her with after she –accidentally- stomped on it when he assumed she'd be wearing something less of a bikini.

"Knuckles I'm telling you this again, I'm going to be wearing a dress. Its peach coloured, not transparent or white, but peach. It blends with the beach, and covers everything besides my ankles and arms, so can you please stop worrying too much?" She asks him, a desperate tone she never knew she could put up; especially with the amount of words she conjured.

They both heard Jet laugh, and Tikal saw how Knuckles resisted the urge to throw dirt into his mouth. She sighed. At least that was some sort of reassurance he was trying to supress his ire.

Not long later, Tikal was setting sight on Bark, glasses atop his head and beanie covering brown locks that swayed with the wind. His camera held into his palms was being examined, and she saw the cluster of learners surrounding him, noticing immediately that Sonic was one of them.

"Why is Sonic here?" She asks Knuckles, absently aware that Jet disappeared someplace off with the food. She eyes Sonic, seeing the look of great admiration and then she turns to Bark, also noticing how proud he is. Her lips curled into something more delighted that she forgot Knuckles's reply.

Though, she does hear the growl roaring from his throat and since the wind picked it up, she counted the seconds it'd take before Bark actually turned their way. He didn't smile when he did though, only gave her a nod because smiling meant he'd take more work frowning when Knuckles came to view. He only kept a straight grim line of a smile as he stared at Knuckles.

"I didn't want a runt to ruin my lesson," He says as they reach earshot.

Knuckles, obviously angered by the indirect comment, glares around, actually making a couple of onlookers leave. "I'm surprised you've kept this charade of your life up this long Bark," He said, eyes disdainfully watching equipment. "Did the ice-cream parlour idea finally blow up into your face?"

Tikal could see sparks fly, but she found the situation more hilarious and kept giggling as their spat continued with their eyes.

"Hey, you must be Tikal, right?" Sonic asked, patting her shoulder to reel her out of the scene. She nods, her cheeks flushed with the morning sun as she musters a ghost of a smile, because seriously, she didn't know squat about him to leave her guards down, despite the various times his name came across her lips like fluid.

"Yeah, nice to actually meet you," She told him, aware that her walls were slowly falling at his beaming smile. She figured this was how Amy fell for him. "I saw you talking to Wave a few days before, heard that she's making boards for you and your friends." She left out the part about her envious that they'd get to keep and gloat about Wave's designs while she can't because Wave doesn't want to lend her sketch pad until she learned how to ride.

"Yeah," he agrees, a distant smile playing onto his lips. "She's a good designer. I saw Jet's and I was awestruck. Silver and I were eager to get something similar, though convincing Shadow was really hard since he had to pay with his cash."

She picks up on the names and eyes him curiously. "You're friends with Shadow and Silver?"

"Seeing that we live together kinda makes that evident, well in Shadow's case, it's just convenient, but me and Silver get another vibe that reads appreciation." He confesses, and she is fairly surprised that he felt relieved to voicing it out. The perplexity of it was actually to whom he counselled it to. A total stranger he knew by name.

"You're zanier than I thought you'd be," She thought incredulously, but it turns out, she delivered the words and made him laugh.

"I actually don't get that a lot, but yah, zany would be another adjective to my adjective list." He scratched his head, and gives the scene a glance. "So, why are you here? I'm here for the classes, so what's you're reason?"

"I'm the fruits in the bowl,"

"Huh?"

"I'm taking the position as a model. I…umm…owe Bark a lot of things so I try to repay him any way I can. This is also a reason why he has a knack of taking advantage of his power, plus, I think he grew to like Knuckles in their short, pleasant disputes." She told him, so easily, she felt like she gossiped her secrets to him. Really, how hard was he to talk to that left Amy stuck with no words? Tikal didn't get it, not at all.

"Let's begin," came the voice that could on belong to Bark from behind. "I want to do this fast enough to get rid of this brat so he'd get to his girlfriend before noon,"

Tikal heard Knuckles heave out a contemptuous bark.


	4. Chapter 4

**JAN**

* * *

**WEEK FOUR**

* * *

The air smelt of bacon, sizzling bacon which mingled with the scent of eggs, and crispy toast and that small tingle of spice, Silver didn't know which, but he was sure something had been sprinkled into the mix. He pulled himself out of the bathroom; toothbrush shoved in his mouth, and strode to the kitchen.

"That smells good,"

Shadow ignored the compliment, no big surprise there. He dished out his ration of breakfast. "Where's Sonic?"

Silver stretched. "Asleep, tried waking him up though and he threw a pillow at my head."

Shadow exhaled. The coffee he brewed was nestling in the machine's jug and he silently wondered how he became a practical personal chef for these two who'd rather eat French fries for supper. "Then why don't you try again?"

Silver disappeared shortly after he told him that he'd try again with Sonic. A door slammed, some muffle of words ruptured and something or probably someone fell down, thus rendering why Shadow heard the thud and the pained moan.

"Damn you Silver." Sonic growled distantly, scraping his feet along the kitchen tiles and rubbing his neck. "I could have broken something."

"It's better than Shadow's wake up shower." Silver voiced out audibly, washing his face way back in the bathroom.

Sonic ignored him, took a bowl and flunked cereal in it and eyed Shadow through sleepy eyes, up and down. "You're already dressed, meaning you're leaving and not gonna wait for me and Silver to finish up?"

"When is that girl going to finish our boards?"

"Geez, Shadow, learn to answer people's questions first." Sonic yawned behind him and scratched his messy hair, allowing locks to scratchily ride across his cheeks before settling. "She's already done with mine and yours, only needs to talk to Silver."

"Why doesn't she give ours then instead of making us wait?" Shadow asked, taking a fork full of bacon and gulping it down instantly.

"Well, I don't know, she might be some organised freak. Likes doing things together and giving them together. She is a girl, you know, most of them are like that." Sonic replied, stretching his words out since he really wasn't sure with that deduction.

"So that means you guys won't get your boards until I talk to her?" Silver entered, asking the question as he took the pan and filled his plate with breakfast. "She's rooting for linkage then."

Shadow muttered something inaudible, and Sonic only shrugged. "Just talk to her today. I wanna hit the ramps soon before we get dumped with anymore assignments."

"You know, speaking of girls, I wanna ask, what's with you ogling that brunette one?" Silver asked. He wasn't really interested with Sonic's interests, but yeah, he wanted to start a conversation. "You seem to like her."

"There are a lot of brunettes in our school, you better specify." Shadow mumbled and drank his coffee.

"Okay, her last name is Acorn I think. Does that ring a bell?"

"Sally Acorn," Sonic sighed, a very affected smile cornering his lips. He rubbed his chin in remembrance. "Yes, that girl, she's an intriguing one. Pretty, smart and very athletic and gets my skin all acting. I'm going to make her mine sooner or later."

Shadow scoffed at his confidence. "She's playing hard to get or is denial about her feelings towards you and you're thinking about getting her on a date? You're better off getting that other one."

Listening to Shadow's words, Sonic and Silver blinked rapidly. "What other one?"

Shadow only turned his head to the side. "Ask her out, she's going to say yes. Talk about something she's interested in, and then you'd see what she's going to do later during the month. Sonic you're in a heap of trouble."

"Shadow, you aren't making sense, which is odd, since you usually do." Silver told him, really confused and Sonic could only agree more. "Yeah, what are you talking about?"

"I'm making sense, you just have to wait and see so you'd understand."

Sonic and Silver glanced at each other in puzzlement.

* * *

Silver exhaled slowly, held a hand to his temple and collapsed into his chair.

It was tiring, trying to find this Wave person, who, by some kind of logical reason, decided to turn off her phone and leaving him in a pinch. He'd spend the whole morning –before classes that is- searching for her. The fact that he was new kind of made it harder since he couldn't pinpoint every location in the school without a teacher of familiarized student.

Oh, and speaking of these students, what was wrong with some of them?

The number of males he asked after he estimated their ages and probable grades were little, and many of that little didn't look pleased with his questions. They either showed some sort of vacuous face, annoyed looks or better yet, they pretended they were in a rush, searching for something else and looking too busied to answer his questions.

So, instead, he went to the female populace. At least, the ones he knew, and though none showed the same actions as the fewer males, Silver was sure they looked more distraught by his asking. When he asked if any of them shared classes with Wave, they only stared at each other, some sort of mental conversation going on between them, and then they'd shake their heads and continue some random conversation that might have been dropped off two days before. He'd left after that, not bothering to press anything more out of people who wouldn't cooperate.

What was wrong with this Wave girl anyways that made the guys look murderous and the girls wary? Because from this morning experience, all he got from everyone was 'back off'.

A finger patted his shoulder and he snapped. "What?"

"Whoa, watch it, don't bite me, I come in peace."

It was a girl with indigo hair matted under a white bandana, making a gesture of surrender, backing up a bit, and looking smug instead of surprised. For a while there, he thought he'd seen a black blob on her finger nail.

"Look, I'm sorry, had a rough morning." That and he didn't want to talk to someone right now. He didn't know if she got the hint or not, and if she did, she completely disregarded it by taking the vacant chair beside him. She smiled –he oddly knew there was a smirk under it- and just stared at him.

He stared back.

"Sonic's got green eyes, Shadow's got red, and you've got yellow. Plus, you've got hair that's silver, and strangely enough, it corresponds with your name. So tell me, just what kind of genes are you from, since you have the full package of bizarreness?" She asked wryly, and yet he thought he'd feel offended, he found her words rather calming.

"It's complicated," He muttered and felt the urge to stare outside the window, and he does. He could see students mulling into the school and could hear their murmurs.

"Okay, not everyone likes talking about family. I get that." She construed and leaning back a bit while he continued to stare outside. She breathed deliberately loud. "Look, not to come off rude or anything, don't you think being a moody guy is kind of, I don't know, petty?"

He only turned and gave her a hard look. "You came off rude."

She wagged a finger. "I didn't promise I wouldn't, just wanted to get you to look at me. Your mongrel-ness interests me."

"I don't really know what you want from me, but calling me some kind of mixed dog will lessen any good word out of me."

She shrugged, "As long as I know I can change them into something positive doesn't mean anything to me. Now, leaving out the rude intro, I'd like you to know my name."

"Wave,"

She blinked. "Huh?"

Not even he knew how, but he just guessed that's her name. "It is your name right? Wave?"

"Well, guess that leaves the anonymousness in a ditch. I can't believe you played me." She said, and Silver is kind of surprised that she doesn't pout, but looked at him with a sort of respect and consideration, and he's really confused.

"Sorry," He droned coyly.

She shoved his shoulder. "Okay, don't go shy on me already, I was enjoying it." For a second time, she's confused him. "Look, I think Sonic told you this, so I'm gonna recap. I'm Wave Swallow and I'm going to make you a board, actually no, I did it, I just need to finish the paint job and I'll hand it to you by next week. So, do me a favour, meet me at the parlour after school tomorrow, and I'd get to design how I want it to look."

He grinned. She was rambling. "Sure. Afterschool then,"

Wave watched him and snorted. "I don't know why, but I feel like you played me again."

* * *

"So, it's a date?"

Wave rolled her eyes. "I'd like to call all the meetings I have with you arrangements Jet," She looked at him and whispered "Amy has a knack for twisting anybody's words," as if the girl herself was here, Wave snapped looks around her room. Who knew what the shadows of her room could hide.

"I'm not hiding anything," Jet flatly broke when she met his eye. He shrugged it off, lying peacefully on her bed. Wave studied his ease as she sewed on a button on his shirt. "So, when are we going exactly?"

She skewed her head. "To the ramps?"

"Is that all you think about? Skating?" He groaned. "Seriously Wave, I'm talking about the movies, when should I pick you up?"

Wave frowned. What got him so aggravated? "Oh, maybe seven…what time's the movie starting?"

"Eight,"

"So half past seven then since we can skateboard there-"

"No,"

She blinked. "Huh?"

"We are walking not boarding." He said a bit quieter, then with a steady voice and stare. "We are walking there, so I'll pick you up at seven."

She put the needle down because it was all that was left before she stitched his ego up. "Okay, what's wrong with you? You come to my house at four, take a nap, wake up and make me stitch your shirt"-to show her irritation she flailed his shirt around-"and now your acting all bossy and kind of mean, so spill, what's gotten you so mad at me?"

Jet stared at her, and Wave found it really hard to keep up with her being calm with that heated stare of his. "I'm not mad at all, maybe annoyed, but mad? No. Is it wrong for me to ask you out without our boards?" Now he spoke as if she was the insane yelling banshee and that his uncharacteristic aggravation was something normal. If she didn't know any better, she'd think she was being duped.

"We used to do it all the time." She stretched out, steeling herself instantly when he decided to go all hot again. She ducked, plucking his shirt of nothing, her irritation long gone because his stare was meddling with her.

"That was last year Wave. Grow up,"

"Excuse me?" She glowered at him. "Seriously, what the hell has gotten your underwear in a twist? If you're angry about something why are you venting it out on me as if I'm the one who caused your darn moodiness?"

Actually, she wanted to voice out what gave him the right to become all nasty all of a sudden. Why he decided to come around her house at four and take about an extra hour of his and her time to take a snooze under her comforters. And most prominently, why he was looking at her as if she had given the answer of the lifetime without knowing about it.

"Answer me Jet,"

"You're never going to grow up,"

She crossed her arms. "Seriously, what is wrong with you?" And what was wrong with this scenario? "You know, if you're talking about growing up, then we should stop these childish arguments as well."

"Calling this childish when you refuse to call our little hang outs dates? Are you really sure that calling them arrangements is going to change the fact?" He was seething, as if fuming out all his irksomeness on his teeth. Wave didn't entertain the thought of what he was trying not to hurt this moment.

And she flat out ignored it because she's vexed by trying to figure out what the hell he was trying to tell her. "And so what about calling it an arrangement? I have always called it that, and just because we are in high school doesn't mean I should instantly adapt to something okay? This bickering with you is just stupid."

Why was he going on about this and of all times, why now?

She'd been happy today, preparing herself for a night time routine with him and now they were spending quarter of it fighting. As if the situation could get any more frustrating, he was beginning to scowl and the fact that it was being directed towards her wasn't pleasing.

"You know what? Forget about you explaining it, 'cause it's pretty obvious you're trying to find the correct words. Do us both a favour and leave, take your shirt since I'm done with it and you and come back when your ego is intact, because it's only then you make some significant sense."

She was rambling because she was nervous and exasperated with this. She shoved everything out, him specifically, and when she finally heard her front door slam closed and until she was sure all the cussing on porch had mellowed into a hum. Wave reeled herself from her previous emotions and wounded up bolting into her bed. She wasn't going to think about him.

* * *

Entering school, Amy made it her lifelong mission to put some proximity between her and Sonic. It only felt right, since she was going to stop being shy (thank you Cream and your constant relationship lectures) around him and finally try to bring out the real Amy Rose, one that was sort of stuck up, but fun and melodically sweet.

With that resolve, she braved herself by reciting encouragements to herself as she looked in the mirror. Her mother had told her to constantly tell herself she was better, fiercer and braver, and that had put her in very great positions. Cheerleading captain, Welcome Committee President, and when she became a bride's maid at her aunt's wedding, those chants had come really in handy when she walked down the aisle with the nephew of the groom.

To say he wasn't hot was an understatement. Though, they remained friends, they left out that dating for a month and growing bored of the relationship had caused some distance none was willing to admit.

_Amy stop it, you should pull your soul and heart towards your brain! _

Her father had told her that that logic was recommendable when dealing with situations that involved the three…which had only happened when her uncle had decided to pour vodka in her juice while she hadn't been looking. And while her brain had become jelly, her heart and faithful soul had declared war on whoever decided to cuddle with her boyfriend -back to the nephew of her aunt's husband.

"Shoot, I have to stop thinking about him. But man, was he cute."

"Foolish girls are the ones that talk to themselves and think of themselves prettier than people tell them."

She jumped, squealed and hit her head. The combinations hurt her and she hastily reclaimed composure when passer byers decided to stop and stare. Sweetly smiling at them and inwardly telling them to mind their own business, she whirled to that gruffness and all her youthfulness drained at the sight.

"Shadow," She flatly remarked and became instantly bored. "What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Your intentions,"

Because she wasn't concentrated on him, rather on his eerily uncharacteristic paled coloured attire (soft washed jeans and denim jacket-did Sonic dress him?) she hadn't heard it until she saw that his lips were scowling and he was radiating early morning darkness.

She decided not to ask him to repeat. "Umm…why are you even talking to me? We didn't get along the first time we met." She eyed him, unconditionally shutting her locker.

He arched a brow. Did she think he was going to swipe something from that shamefully pink covered closet? "I'm building a base here, and I want it done so I'd tolerate your presence."

"Okay, just what are you-"

"You are smitten with Sonic." He declared and she all out stared at him with square eyes. Being too shocked to reply, he droned on. "I know you're going to try to pursue him, and I very much don't care how you do so, but judging from your demeanour, it's going to be loud…"

When she realised he was drawing her traits out and making them sound rather offending to give her insecurity dreams, she squared her shoulders and frowned. "Okay, so I kind of have a crush on him, so what of it, and why are you diagnosing my qualities as if they are some sort of epidemical symptoms?"

"If they were epidemical, then I wouldn't be talking to you, now would I?" He snidely remarked, and to add to her annoyance- no, not annoyance, he didn't annoy people, he angered them- he tilted his head to the side, harshly making her feel like some sort of cryptic creature.

She seethed. "I'm surprised you haven't reached your point."

"I was hoping you'd pick up off the lines, but it seems not everyone is bright." He exhaled, darkish nonchalance everywhere. Really, how old was this guy to look so mature? "I'm trying to tell you that I'd rather prefer you trying to catch Sonic's attention rather than him chasing after that Acorn girl." He ambled off, not waiting for his words to absorb in her like a sponge did with water.

It took Amy time to realise that she had somehow formed a weird basis of a latent acquaintanceship with Shadow and that he had in some sinuous way complimented her.

* * *

_Meet me at lunch?_

Tikal blinked.

When had she given Sonic her number? She texted back a short reply of acceptance and briefly wondered how she knew his number. Narrowing her eyes in thought, she somehow recalled Amy's voice repeating numbers that now vividly seemed to be cell phone digits.

Thinking about her rosette haired friend, she wondered what she was up to so she could ask what had gotten her and Shadow in such a heated conversation in such an early time of day. If anything, Tikal had thought that when Amy and Shadow had gotten on the wrong foot they wouldn't be on speaking, if so, maybe they'd be glaring and shooting each other unkind remarks. She hadn't expected to see an acceptance of sorts in Shadow's face when he strung out Amy's figure in the crowd.

Tikal sort of frowned then. She couldn't quiet put a finger on it, but she was certain that a couple of people hadn't been happy with Shadow talking to Amy. Particularly Sally. Well, Tikal was also certain that another group of girls had been eyeing them as well, but Sally stuck out like a sour thumb (or was it sore?-she needed to get these English sayings correct) by looking suspicious instead of enviously curios.

As to why Sally seemed like she was eyeing Amy's conversation like a game of chess was rather odd. First of all, Amy held no interest in Shadow, thus rendering Sally's blanching useless to explain. Second, Amy adored Sonic and since he wasn't in the perimeter, then that still make Sally's blanch weeded out. It wouldn't make sense why she was upset with Amy since her general attention was being lit towards the energetic Sonic, not Shadow, it meant that Sally didn't need to feel or look cornered, right?

So…why…ah!

Thinking about it, it somehow made sense. Sally looked backed up because Shadow was a very good ally to keep, if it came to this heated relationship desires. If Amy, by chance, were to get in his good graces, chances were friendship would be bound to transpire, thus making Amy's presence around Shadow evident and not clingy. In the long run, that'll allow Sonic and her to gain a better talking basis.

So, being in Sally's shoes, it'd mean something drastic. Sally was strategic and the fact that she was eyeing the situation of Amy-Sonic-Shadow as some thinking game was rather intense, and not very leading to the true meaning of what each girl wanted: Sonic as their boyfriend.

With the thought that Amy was in far greater competition and intensity than before, Tikal couldn't help but feel rather worried. It'd only be a matter of time and treatability before claws and fangs were put onto the table and fate decided to call the shots.

Without thinking, Tikal brought out her phone and searched for Amy's number.

_Be careful_

Her phone beeped.

_I knw what ur thinking abt so cut it out! I'm not goin 2 die._

Sighing, Tikal replied back and placed her phone back into her pocket. Simultaneously, just bumping shoulders with someone and it took careful precision not to trip. She thanked Knuckles and his boxing training for that.

"Sorry, I wasn't concentrating on where I was looking."

"Do you always have to apologize and put the blame on yourself?" Espio asked, fumbling a bit to help adjust his back pack before continuing walking with Tikal.

She smiled at him. "Morning to you too Espio and I'm sorry, I'm used to it, you know that."

He nudged her. It was a good excuse to use rather than laughing. "Sure, your apologizing fits happened when you had to reject most of the "Be my girlfriend" invitations when you couldn't decline "let's hang out"."

Tikal puckered. "Middle school was filled with hanging out. I never assumed that it was 'let's date' until Amy and Wave pulled me in a growing up talk, as they called it."

"Being naïve is a curse."

She laughed. "That's a quote I'll be using for some time now Espio, especially when referring to you." She watched and gave him an impish grin. "After all, when Honey called me last week, she was rather pleased with her accomplishment."

If Tikal hadn't grown a cheeky spine around Espio and established a BFF scenario with him, she wouldn't have labelled his twitching lip as a sign that he was fighting back a blush. She laughed again when it spread and he tried covering it.

"Espio, the very fact that she kissed you on the cheek proves my theory. She's definitely crushing on you, and you're using naiveté as an excuse, which is weird really since it only brings out your true feelings."

"I shouldn't have told you I had a crush on her back when we were bratty kids." He groaned mockingly. "You seem to have grown some wit and you're using it against me. You're conspiratorial."

"Being the daughter of a lawyer turned judge has its advantages." She held, and when she thought she'd been all playful with him, his smile washed-out, and he returned to empathetic Espio promptly. She held back a sigh. "Let me guess, I said it all miserably, right?"

"Let's forget about it, okay?"

She simply bobbed. Espio knew her and very much understood that domestic talk wasn't the best conversation she had. And the fact that he just understood her through listening to her tone made it better, since that was what made this relationship of theirs grow. In retrospect, it was probably what started it.

Understanding was a very good virtue indeed.

* * *

**And here's the update. I don't know why, but I kinda feel dampened by this chapter...but I hope you guys like it, it'd be nice if you do.**

**Oh, and I was like done with this chapter since three days ago, but every time I tried revising it, I ended up changing the context and everything. So before I decided to do it again, I posted it to keep my writer fingers of the piece. I need to think about other stuff now and updating a lot is my main priority since school's about to begin soon -I actually have holiday classes- and I won't have time to do much of anything. So yeah, hope I get more chappies done, cause I ain't sure how long I'm gonna make this story.**


	5. Chapter 5

**FEBRUARY**

* * *

**WEEK ONE**

* * *

**.**

**.**

The minute Tikal closed the front door of her house; the sound of the garage door opening met her ears. She slightly jolted by the surprise before venturing around, and meeting her driver pulling the black car out of the garage. He was turning the wheel around as she sighted her father's figure sitting tautly in the back seat.

Frowning, she ambled towards the car as it stopped. She tapped at the window and her father rolled it down.

"Father, are you leaving for work so soon?" She asked, her voice tuned to softness because she doubted her assumption. The only reason her father had for leaving this early was explained with bottle of champagne dipped in a bucket of ice. Crunching her brows, she eyed him again. "You're leaving for a trip, aren't you?"

"It is necessary Tikal." He curtly said, and with an unquestioning stare, he continued. "You're accustomed to living with the maids; I don't think I have anything to worry about, right?"

She shook her head. It was nothing, really, just her birthday two days from now. "No, nothing at all, father. Please, have a safe trip."

He nodded, and as he was about to roll down his window, he quickly watched her as she turned to walk to school. "Tikal, I have spare time, do you need a ride to school?"

She looked at him, surprised by his pure proposal and at the somehow hesitant words. He must have caught on, because he drew up a brow and looked back at her all stony and him-like. He expected an answer she wasn't so sure of giving. Finally, after a decision, she shook her head no. "I'd rather walk to school. It builds up the muscles and the brain. Plus, I'd rather not waste any more of your time, right?"

He took a second to give a thorough stare and nodded sharply before fully blocking his vision of her. The car finally moved. Tikal waved at the driver, and he smiled back, albeit sympathetic. She shrugged, as if giving him the okay on the situation. It wasn't a surprise about how her father acted as if she was non-existent. The driver and her father then zoomed off. She wondered why a judge had to go on a business trip anyway.

"Miss Tikal, are you not leaving?" Trish, one of the maids she had a very close relationship with, inquired politely from an opened window.

Furrowing her brows slightly, Tikal glanced at her phone's clock and yelped. "Oh no, I'm going to be late." She ran to the front gate and before forgetting, she twisted around and called back. "Trish thanks for reminding me. I'll promise to bring you an apple tart from the bakery, okay?"

The maid waved back as Tikal sprinted and disappeared in a thicket of bushes.

* * *

.

.

Shadow could practically feel the blood from his toes and fingers freeze. The morning was breezy, and since his hair was dripping droplets of his morning shower on his skin, he wasn't in a cooperative mood to sit down, and hear their gym teacher ramble on about the safety of stretching before a good sport game.

Shadow shook his head a bit, and ran a hand through his locks. He didn't like waiting, especially when he needed to add some heat to his body before he grew a cold.

A low whistle resonated from behind him, and Shadow narrowed his eyes. He turned to the side, and noticed Silver, Sonic, and the rest of the guys staring at the other end of the field. The teach quieted down, possibly giving in to the fact that no one cared about the regulations.

Shadow tilted his head a bit, and caught sight of a bunch of girls huddled together, possibly discussing something. He angled his head a bit more against the sun, and instantly noticed the shameless mould of pink sticking out sorely from the bundle of blondes and brunette and a petty shade of purple. That got him to narrow his eyes.

Why was Amy Rose, the girl he labelled girlish and too stuck up in thinking things always work out, carrying a football, looking all tomboyish even with that bright mesh of colour atop her head?

"Hey, it's Rose." One of the guys said, and Shadow rolled his eyes. Who else besides that perky girl had that hair colour?

She was yelling about something, looking pissed, and way too in her element to notice their ogling. Whatever spectacle these guys were having, Shadow wondered how Amy fit into their impatience.

Sonic walked towards him, looking bemused by the change of atmosphere and movement. He smiled a bit and shrugged. "What's up with that?" Shadow kept silent. How was he to know about this school that seemed to surprise him every single day?

Jet came to them and clucked. "You guys might wanna see just who Amy Rose is."

Sonic raised both brows and followed Jet. And since Shadow was bored, not to mention curious, he followed as well, and as he came to the fence, he decided he needed glasses because he did not just see Amy Rose kick a ball, a football, with that much strength and vigour.

She ran around, smiling at her goal, and sped up again when it was kicked back into the field by a very pissed Julie-Su. It missed her head marginally, and Amy screeched at Julie, obviously upset that the goalie had directed a full out hit to her head.

Though, their antics weren't something new of a surprise, Shadow couldn't lie about not being impressed by what he saw Amy do the second and third time. She was strikingly good at soccer, and looked the part of an athlete, rather than the frilly girl he thought he knew by now. For a while now, he began to label her as annoying, too stuck up in her own fantasies, and unrealistically dumb; the normal characteristics of the people Shadow despised to be with.

But seeing her now, looking like she didn't just hit a goal consecutively but actually walked a block, made Shadow change some of her qualities. In the end, he only deduced that Amy had impressed him, and he is slightly bothered by how she did it without even knowing about it.

There was a loud clapping, and their gym teacher began blowing a whistle. "Okay guys, I'm sure you've quenched your teenage hormones by now, so please, let's get to the stretching before we run laps, okay?"

* * *

.

.

The bell rang, signalling time for lunch and Shadow most definitely didn't want to sit in the cafeteria, especially when it involved being with Sonic and Silver. It was bad enough that his looks alone attracted a whole bunch of girls the size of a single class, but having that multiplied with two others, wasn't something to be jolly about, not at all. He could never indulge in his meals and listen to Sonic and Silver yapping on about their preferences peacefully when girls crowded them like vultures.

The worst thing about them was their perfumes. If they thought adorning miniskirts and shorts wouldn't attract their attention, did they think their perfumes would do any better? Sure, the view of slim legs was something entertaining, he was, after all male, but let's not forget, he was human as well, and that overruled how he preferred breathing without fearing being chocked by heavy perfumes and body spray.

Grumbling to himself, Shadow steeled himself for the worst as he walked towards the table that now occupied Silver and Sonic. He was aware of a group of girls giving him the one over. He hastened his walk before they called him over. Sonic and Silver were talking amiably and overly happily about something, and when he reached the table with his tray of food, Shadow muted them out instantly and relishing in his silence, or at least he tried.

Because not long after he sat, there came Sally Acorn, walking slowly towards their table, towards Sonic. Shadow groaned, really what was wrong with these girls? Silver caught on to his annoyance and gave him a smile that only made Shadow's irritation worsen.

"What do you want Acorn?" He asked, slow, and not kindly. Sonic eyed him, warning him not to scare her off, and Shadow scoffed. No one could scare off someone like Sally Acorn who was too determined to the point she ignored all sort of dark auras.

She narrowed her eyes into slits, effectively seeing his annoyance and stared back, confirming it wholeheartedly. "It's good to see you too Shadow." She pulled out.

"You're talking as if there's something pleasant between us." He assessed with a classic business tone. Silver muffled a lark and Sonic only stared harder as Sally sat down next to him, rolling her eyes.

"I think we should start over Shadow." She was seething. He could see it in her mind and how she was hiding it behind a stern face could only be impressive to Sonic's standards. "This relationship of ours needs to see a different light."

He scoffed at her words. "I don't have a relationship with you Acorn. I keep my distance because I don't like you. Get the hint, and stop talking to me, you're disrupting my lunch time." He inwardly smiled at his chosen words, and gave a sharp look towards Silver. He was laughing, not at all containing his mirth.

Sally bit her cheeks and fumed. "You're so rude."

Sonic chuckled at her red face. "C'mon Sal, no need to go all puffy. Just ignore him; he isn't worth your time."

"Sonic choose your words carefully because I have a fork and I'm not afraid to use it." Shadow warned, and now remembering that last part of what he said, Shadow turned to the Acorn girl. "Listen Acorn, it's a proven fact that we don't like each other. I don't care about you and I'm sure you don't even want to walk on the same piece of land with me, so it's better if we don't talk."

She only turned her head to the side and flat out ignored Sonic's words of trying to console her broken pride. "You know what? I'm going, because it's so obvious that someone doesn't want to cooperate. Bye Silver, bye Sonic."

"Farewell," Shadow called out wryly as she pranced off to her friends. "And good riddance,"

"Ugh, seriously, I can still smell that wicked girl's perfume."

Silver perked up, and Shadow why girls disrupted his lunch. "Wave,"

The girl chuckled and sat next to Silver, her arm slinging around his shoulder as she gave him a cheeky grin. "I'm going to keep smiling until Typhoon stops staring at me. So, as much as I hate being this close to you, do hold on a bit."

Shadow arched a curious brow, and decided to go against asking. It saved him from the trouble of talking since he already said a month's full of words towards the Acorn girl. Sonic, however, wasn't at all satisfied. He leaned against the table and gave her a inquiring stare. "Okay, who's Typhoon?"

"You see that girl over there with Sally? She's pale skinned, kind of tall and brunette. Plus, she has flappy arms."

Silver titled his head and saw the exact girl staring back at him. She turned around with a sour look on her face. "Isn't that Jet's girlfriend?"

"I thought they broke up last year." Sonic mused, finally coming around to indulging into his meal.

Wave shrugged, not bothering to correct that thought of his. She took a glance over Silver's shoulder and huffed, glad that Typhoon decided that glaring daggers wasn't going to get her anywhere.

She moved away from Silver and comforted herself in the seat.

"Why aren't you leaving?" Shadow finally asked.

She only gave him a shove. "I'm already here. No point in leaving."

"So does Typhoon have a beef with you or something?" Sonic asked her, making her turn to the other side and give him a hard look. She frowned. Remembering why Typhoon had been staring so heatedly at her since the morning wasn't something rather pleasing to think, and it wasn't something she was willing to jolt out and say like some gossipy girls who thought that juicy news would get them somewhere.

"I don't know who you think I am, but me conversing about my relationships with people is not something I do." She wasn't going to say it, but she respected her acquaintanceships very much so, and no matter how vile, annoying or even unbearable they were, she wouldn't jeopardize her moralities. It was just wrong.

Sonic gawked at her resolve and Silver patted her back. "Wow, why aren't you dating Jet?"

Silver stopped his movement and frowned. "You know Jet?"

She was about to remark that he was probably dating Typhoon, but recalling her ordeal with him, she reconsidered changing her words. "Childhood buds, that's all." She mumbled, radiating the vibe that told those who couldn't read tension to back off on the subject. Fortunately, Sonic and Silver were smart enough to drop it as that. Shadow just ignored it.

"Oh, yeah, before I forget." Wave abruptly lit up and beamed a smile around the three. "I've got all your boards painted. So, pay up."

Silver blinked at her. "I thought you weren't done with mine. Thought, we'd go over the design afterschool."

Wave furrowed her brows and so did Shadow. Was that some sort of saddened tone Silver was using? She ignored it when his face showed no trace of it, probably for the best. "Yeah, I thought so too, but I had spare time yesterday, and completed it. So, by tomorrow, you guys will get you boards and by the end of the week I can finally buy that wrench I saw in the mall."

"That's the second time," Sonic watched her in awe and she mirrored a look of confusion. Noticing, he elaborated. "That time that we met in school, you said your aim was to make money, and now you're talking about buying a wrench. That's a second blow right there."

She still looked confused, and if she decided to overlook his smile, she'd know she'd be insulted in some way. Maybe that was this guy's case. Making someone feel more important than they should? No, that was a wrong deduction.

"He's obviously trying to say that most girls cover up ulterior motives." Shadow explained grimly.

Yet again, Wave was bordering misperception. "Okay, but I don't get it why it's this surprising. And if I do, I don't know what I'd think, so let's drop the topic, 'kay?"

Instantly, finally letting Shadow's words sink it, Wave narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "I don't know why, but why do I feel insulted by you?"

Sonic and Silver laughed. "So you did notice?"

It was kind of hard not to. With Shadow calling out the 'most girls cover up ulterior motive' card, he had probably-purposely- said that she was a girl who blurted out her wants like it didn't matter when they were heard, and by whom. True, that was part of her character, but the tone of how he said the hidden words wasn't something great.

"You know what, I think it's time I analyse you guys." She called and all their movement ceased at bluntness of it all. "I should start with moody pants over here." She pointed suggestively at Shadow.

He studied her. "Annoying,"

"Yeah?" She asked, and gave him a soft punch. "You're the type of guy that makes girls scream with affection and irritation. When you remark on someone, it comes off weirdly and then the thrust of its rudeness slaps people in the face. I don't know how you got to this point of life alive with your darkish demeanour, but I doubt you're going to live better days if you don't change your character."

"I don't need you foolish warnings."

She rolled her eyes.

"Okay, do me?" Sonic piped, pointing at himself. She titled her head to the side and gave him a sort of ludicrous grin without realising it.

"Hmm, you're the kind to make someone feel important. Though, you come off scatter-brained, you're actually carefree and know how to enjoy a specific point of life to the fullest. That's probably why girls are on the 'nonchalance crush' gauge. You look so simple to talk to, it gives them the idea that you'd be easy to fall in their traps, but being realistic, you're probably the hardest of you three to get."

Shadow and Silver watched her, and she didn't miss how they seemed surprised by the evaluation. Sure, she wasn't certain that all that speaking was right on the target, but she trusted her instincts to believe that she got something in, and their astonishment just convinced her she got most of it.

She didn't wait for Sonic to start babbling. "Now, it's you Silver."

Gazing at him, she moved closer, knowingly disturbing his and her personal space. It was fun making people uncomfortable. Her eyes roamed over his breeding closely, pointing out every curve of his features and how each did the other good. The sight of his eyes made her breathing grow a bit shallow, not because of the stare ,which was questioning, but because of the unique blend of colour.

_Sandy yellow, _she thought distractingly. It kind of looked like the sun…hmm…a pair of sunshine staring back at you? How poetic, so to say. She bit her lip a bit, marvelling in their rays, how they twinkled, how they seemed to fit with his almost pale skin and his pale hair. She almost whispered perfection then and there.

Then, the moment was cut short when Shadow decided that he'd avenge his shoulder from the soft punch she'd given it. He coughed and she blinked, warily watching her surroundings and quickly reeling back her coolness before any of them decided to grow perceptive eyeing.

"Well, doc, is he going to live?" Sonic joked, though the curiosity was still ever so present.

She unknowingly glanced at Silver. "Umm…yeah, I think I should go now." She made a move to stand and before Silver could call out and ask why the rush, she ambled off, just in the time the bell rang to signal classes.

"Weird," He remarked when the rush finally climaxed.

Sonic's phone then beeped. He read Tikal's name and arched a brow as he read the text.

_So sorry, I couldn't meet you yesterday. I got caught up in some stuff. What about tomorrow, at the parlour?_

_Sure, jst don't ditch me again, kay?_

_Never, c u then_

Sonic smiled a bit, ignoring how questioning Silver and Shadow's watching was.

* * *

**Done. Never thought I'd be done with another chapter so quick! But damn, today's the last day of my holiday and tomorrow begins five hours and thirty minutes of my holiday classes 'sigh'. **

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoy. **


	6. Chapter 6

**FEBRUARY**

* * *

**WEEK TWO**

* * *

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.

Amy patted her dress around her hips, swished them around a bit, and repeated the patting just to be on the safe side. The dress was a vibrant red, cotton and comfortable. It marked out her curves suggestively, and brought out her peach-coloured skin nicely. Its arms reached to the meeting of her forearm and upper arm, so she cladded on a simple denim jacket and boots, since it was also knee length.

She smiled and watched herself twirl a bit in the dress. Just perfect enough to make Sonic notice her. Giggling a bit, she raced his name over and over again in her head; each time letting her smile spread enough to call it a toothy grin.

The mirror mirrored her green eyes, and Amy felt more proud of her breeding than before. Her bright pink hair had and still was receiving astonished looks, most rather questioning than rude, but she didn't mind. It was a blessing to her to be unique and so different from the rest. She also liked her green eyes. They were like her mother's and were very vivacious whenever she stared herself down in the mirror.

Though, she couldn't help but stop thinking about her upbringing when her green eyes reminded her of Sonic and his own pair. She still recalled the time during gym. When she had to practice her soccer drills while the class next door was doing tracks. Seeing Sonic there had surprised her, and she had made it her goal to make him see her as the girl who wasn't afraid to break out into a series of sweat.

Amy then sighed, pulling herself out of her thoughts before she was enticed to continue hopeful fantasies. She watched herself yet again in the mirror and approved of her attire the tenth time before strutting out her room and leaving a goodbye kiss on her cousin, Robin, cheek.

* * *

.

.

Shadow was busy roving his eyes around Sonic's room, looking for the jacket he'd leant him a month ago.

He scrunched his nose as he stepped in an old pile of socks that Sonic had promised to throw away once he had packed and stacked his belongings when they moved into the large apartment. He looked around again, noticing that Sonic, despite his freewill-y appearance, was rather organised.

Stacks of books were arranged on a small shelf above his bed and along the side of the door. The bluish colour of the room did well with the dark cypress furniture and Shadow was surprised to see a clean, peach coloured mat near Sonic's pair of shoes. The bed was made, and held nothing but a towel and glasses.

But still, the pile of socks had to go.

He ambled around them, and headed towards the opened closet, hoping that Sonic's organising ideals meant that searching for his jacket wasn't going to be a standard issue. When he neared the nightstand though, he noticed the digital camera sitting idly near the alarm clock.

Curious, he took the small machine in his hands and turned the thing on, mildly wondering when Sonic had gone off and bought the electronic without him noticing. The camera screened came into view and Shadow pressed a button, giving him the clear view of the pictures Sonic had taken since they moved to Mobius.

A couple of sunsets were captured, their horizons touching land, building or ocean, and with different ranges of colours. Shadow smiled a bit, and flicked through a couple of pictures. Some were dumb, such as a picture of a finger, a dull leaf, and some sort of rock and a frog chewing on a fly, but they had some feeling to it, except the finger.

_Sonic does have talent after all, _he mused and then decided that it was best to stop going through the pictures before the guy himself entered and decided to boast about them and challenge him to something related to photography.

Pressing a button he thought read 'off' actually made another slide of picture show, and while his finger was hovering above 'OFF', Shadow couldn't pull it together to press it down when he noticed the shades of blue staring back at him.

He blinked, feeling caught off guard by the picture of Tikal, the girl that he saw countlessly in Wave and Amy's grasp. Her hair was saturated and wavy around her skin, also sticking to her neck and cheeks. She was smiling, the light behind her-maybe from the sun- blaring and covering her in some sort of angelic lighting. He flicked through another series of them, and was growing more surprised by how dazzling she, a person, could get.

This girl was striking and when he saw her adorned in a peach coloured dress, wet and sitting on a beach, looking over the ocean, and wearing a straw hat, he couldn't help but pick out her curves and poised back. How long her hair fell back and clutched deeper on her wet skin and how-

He pressed the button and slapped the camera back in place. Thinking thoughts like that could get someone killed, and as much as he wanted it to be metaphorical, it seemed that he was being dead serious.

* * *

.

.

Amy was walking outside after she'd seen Sally and Sonic talking near a bench. Inwardly fuming and screaming, she wondered how Sally got her clutches on Sonic so fast and so near Valentine's Day. How unfair was that anyway? Well, it was a lot, and Amy was angry.

If she'd talked to Sonic when he talked to her way back in January, then she wouldn't be feeling so left out and dumb. She'd never been shy around a guy, and that was a very happy aspect she loved to taunt about, but with Sonic, it was so different and so surreal, it actually meant something else.

She'd begun to feel happier around herself than before. When the first time he smiled at her, she thought wow, was she that special to receive that kind of smile so early in time? But of course, all the girls received that flamboyant smile, she'd just thought of how different it seemed to be on her. It was like it lingered there for a second longer than necessary.

And then there was the time he saw her on the soccer field. Sure, she'd seen the group of guys staring at her, wondering how she'll conquer Julie. But seeing Sonic there, next to Shadow, looking at her, wide eyed, surprised, impressed and respectful was something she thought would make her heat ooze into something deeper and more dramatically special.

He made her feel more than the girlish girl/tomboyish girl with wicked soccer moves.

He, if she wanted to shorten her words, saw beyond her and she was grateful for that. So much so, she had begun to realise her crush wasn't fading, but growing out more and more that it stretched to every inch of her body.

There was a pat on her shoulder, and she jolted away, taking the time to calm herself from her thoughts. "You-You scared the living hell out of me!" She screeched, twirling around, and stopping in front of none other than Sonic. He looked at her, surprised and speechless, and she froze. "…Soni-c?"

She was about to apologize until she saw Sally standing beside him, arm latched together with his and body pressed firmly to his side. It was kind of obvious that her heart dropped down the staircase that was her body and into the pit of her acidic stomach. This sight was so unfair to her and her feelings. Just how much did Sally Acorn wish to hurt her like this?

She opened her mouth to speak, to say something that wouldn't make her feel and look like some fool, but she couldn't accumulate anything with the sharp dagger digging into her heart. As much as she didn't want to think it, Amy realised she had actually lost.

So, she did the only thing she thought could suffice as some sort of okay that wouldn't threaten a growing relationship with Sonic and keep her dignity high enough to slap Sally's victorious smirk off. So she smiled, asked if they were together, swallowed the lump of dejection in her throat when he grinned and kissed Sally's cheek and then she walked away, giving them congratulation with a winning smile.

Deep down, she knew her heart had just exploded.

* * *

.

.

Tikal headed towards the parlour after school, wondering to herself when her father was going to return and begging to some force that he'd return today, because tomorrow was her birthday, something she wanted him to be there for.

She hadn't planned for a large party, she never did. It was the always dinner she personally made after convincing their chef to take a break and sleep off the scent of veggies and meat. All the dinners were prepared by her, and she always invited her closets of friends to share the day with her, not because she was particularly happy it was her birthday, but because she wanted an excuse to keep them closer to her.

Her father, despite his cold exterior, was the base of it all, the supporter and what she really needed as a birthday gift.

She shook her head a bit, and rushed into the store while she pushed the thoughts away.

When she noticed something off about Sonic, she hadn't been particularly surprised to seeing him with Sally Acorn since him and her always kept a good conversation together during school hours. But seeing him lean down, kiss her cheek and then her lips, well, Tikal inferred that the word 'surprise' was an underestimation of what she felt right now.

She held her place and watched how Sally returned the kiss, and punching him in the shoulder, a motion so far off of Sally Acorn's characteristic movements.

Tikal held a hand to her mouth, and immediately wondered if Amy knew.

She was about to rush away, but he noticed her, called her over with Sally clutching his arm and grinning, like she won the best prize ever. Tikal shook her head towards her, hoping Sally would catch on what she was saying about this wasn't a game. The dark tanned brunette ignored her, and gave Sonic a peck on the cheek, saying that she was leaving and going home.

Sonic waved her a goodbye, and Tikal wondered how he could be easily trapped in Sally Acorn's cage. She accepted that the girl was pretty, smart and very special if you've got to know her, and Tikal did, for the last eight years she and Sally had been on speaking terms long enough to understand that neither bothered with the other's life until necessary. And right now, Sally was still on that oath, but Tikal couldn't pull out the mental contract when she knew Amy was in the loop of this.

Sonic grinned and she wanted so badly to frown in disappointment. "So, about the pictures on the beach…"

* * *

.

.

Amy hadn't entered their video chat that night.

Wave had called her resident, and by the tenth ring, someone picked up, telling her that Amy was taking a shower and wouldn't be out in another couple of minutes or so. Tikal accepted that with a grim look, and had talked about it with Wave, whom shared a look of anger and displeasure with their friend.

"I can't believe this. Amy so badly liked him." Wave screamed, and Tikal could only agree as she looked at Wave in the large screen. "I mean, how could this happen and so quickly?"

Tikal then bit her lip. It was a sign that she wanted to say something but felt obligated to keep shut about it, but Wave…she always argued that keeping something to herself during a crisis, especially an Amy Crisis meant that nothing good will come out of the situation without her telling.

And with the expectant look Wave was giving her, Tikal shook her head and surrendered. "Wave, I think this relationship Sally's having with Sonic is…well, I'm not sure, but latently beneficial."

Wave showed disgust and confusion together. "What are you trying to say?" She snapped her fingers instantly. "Wait, you're saying that this boyfriend-girlfriend thing is some sort of cover up that'll help Sally in the long run?"

Tikal didn't want to point stuff at people, but she couldn't help but nod at that. When Wave made a motion of strangling, Tikal had to back up someone before something else went out of hand. "Wave, listen, I know what you think, that this is wrong and we should tell Amy or maybe Sonic, but we can't-"

"Why?"

"Because it's wrong and virtually isn't our business." She ended, her breathing caught.

"It's our business because Amy's our friend Tikal. Don't you think you'd want to be told that the guy you like is in the clutches of the wrong girl with the wrong motives?" Wave asked her, glaring around her room since she didn't want to give that dagger stare towards Tikal. Deep down, she knew the girl had a point. But for all good graces, she wasn't going to come up and say 'oh, okay' like it wasn't bothering her either.

Tikal really felt tired and distraught by just thinking about what to say. Eventually, she evened out the knots. "Wave, of course I would want that, but this isn't a case about me or you, but of Amy. We are all different and we deal differently with things that happen to us, and right now, how Amy is dealing with this isn't something –I'm sorry- similar to yours and Jet's." It was a sort of low blow, but Wave had to realise that she had problems as well, and that she needed to cure them before something poisoned something else.

Wave stared at her, silently mulling over Tikal's words and how advisory they were. She shook her head. This wasn't the time to talk about friendships that were cracking. "Tikal, you said yourself that Sally wants to benefit from this, so tell me, why do you think so?"

The way she said it, all concerned and yearning made Tikal's resolve melt. "Wave…I don't know about this, but please don't do anything brash."

"I'm won't, so just say it already."

Tikal played with her nails. "During the last holiday as middle scholars, me and Sally at that time were really close. And during that period of friendship, Sally had herself a boyfriend, her fourth guy or maybe eight, I don't know, but she isn't what you're thinking."

"Some sort of girl who follows guys like trends?" Wave supplied with a voice devoid of pleasant speaking.

"No, it isn't like that Wave." Tikal shook her head and stood up pacing around her room. Putting words into better sentences, she stopped moving and sat on her bed. "All those guys didn't last long with her because they all felt pushed into the relationship. That they thought everything was super and great, and that by the end, she'd grow another personality and want commitment."

Wave arched her brow. A question mark was blaring above her head wondering how serious Tikal looked to be talking about something like that. "Amy does too you know."

Tikal smiled a bit, but palmed her lips. "Wave, listen. All these guys felt that they were being pushed to their limits. Like they were being tested and being assessed as if it was some sort of old traditional marriage inspection."

"Was it then? Some sort of traditional marriage, that is?"

Tikal wanted to say something about it, but wondered how deep she was going in discussing this topic that was always so close to her heart. It wasn't one that made her feel bad, but made her feel saddened, but not enough to make her want to speak about the feelings and secrets.

"Wave, I can't say more. This is something Amy should work out on her own if she truly thinks Sonic and her stand a chance together. I can't give away everything, I'm sorry."

Wave didn't like it, but she respected the 'keep a lid on it' gesture. Tikal was clearly saying that something was going on, and even though she wasn't going to say, Wave was certain Tikal didn't like keeping it silent as much as she didn't like being left out of something important like this.

"Okay, let's forget about it. I'm going to try calling Ames again…"

Tikal nodded and logged off.

* * *

.

.

Cream had been thinking about buying something for Tails. Maybe a shirt, a mug, something electronic or a toolbox…he did say he wanted a new screwdriver. She remembered that with a smile tugging on her lips as she walked towards Amy's house. The neighbourhood was colourful with lots of trees, and a park nearby with a small pond. As she made it to her friend's porch, she noted the flowers being grown in a nearby shrub and smiled. Of course, why would Amy Rose miss up the chance to grow roses in her front lawn?

She knocked on the door and readied herself when she heard the familiar pat of footsteps.

The door finally stretched open and Cream was surprised to see Amy's cousin drinking coffee and looking like he'd walked out of hell's shower.

"Robin? What's wrong? You look awful."

He only gazed at her, and took another swig of the caffeine. "Get in here and shut her up already." He pulled her arm and she tumbled forward, face slapped into his chest rather hard. She groaned and pushed herself away, wondering if craziness ran in the Rose family.

"Look, I'm sorry Cream, but I can't stand another hour of her insistent wailing."

She borrowed confusion. "You know, if your wife's pregnancy is getting to you, I don't think hiding out here is a good plan."

He chuckled at that while he rubbed at the bruising his girl had given him. He smiled, but that wasn't the point here. "It isn't her, it's Amy."

"Amy's pregnant?" Cream's eye bulged out.

"What? No. Will you stop jumping in before I say something already?"

She nodded and he sighed, continuing after he sipped more coffee. "I don't know what's wrong with Ames, but she's been crying in her room like a broken winged harpy. Whatever's gotten her into this mood must be something school-related, so can you go up to her room? I tried, but she threatened to throw a snot oozing tissue at my head, and you know I can't risk being sick because…"

"Yeah, your wife needs you." She finished, already going up the stairs of the house and hearing small whimpers coming from Amy's door. She willed herself and pushed the slightly open door open and locked it when she closed the door.

The room was clean, but was masked in depression that seeped from Amy's downcast face. Her friend looked a mess. Frazzled hair picking her soft skin, and clothes wrinkled and displaced comically on her body. It was either she slept with them, or was using her quickness to thrash everything including herself to the nearby wall.

Cream walked forward slowly, a gesture used when she was going to try connecting with a distressed animal, and now, miserable friend. "Amy…"

She looked up with puffy red and drooling eyes. "Cream," she sniffed, trying to wipe the gunk of her sadness away with the sleeves of her jacket. "What are you doing here?"

She took her seat next to her friend's bed and smiled affectionately at her frenzied self. "Rob told me you were crying. Care to explain why?"

Amy gulped the new wave of irritation in her throat and resisted the aftermath of it. "I…oh, Cream, I have the worst love life ever. I can't get a guy to fall for me, without falling for me."

Cream nodded, technically used to Amy's out of context and misunderstood sentences. "Okay, I get you; you want someone to look at your personality, not your exterior benefits. But why are you drowning yourself in your pillow?"

Amy welled up again, and sunk her head in her towel. "I found the right guy…and…and…he was taken away"-she hiccuped-"from me and now I don't know…what…to…do…anymore…and… Cream…" She was having a hard time breathing with all her sobbing and was choking on her words. Cream stringed the words together and finally understood the sentence better and felt bad for her friend for feeling like this. It didn't seem okay.

It wasn't hard to figure out that the girl was obviously talking about Sonic. And by the looks of it, Cream could only think that Sally had gotten into his skin and latched onto him while Amy was in the process of finally braving up and having a proper conversation with him without blushing manically.

"She…took him…Cream." Amy clung to the words over and over again, never letting them go until her sobs mellowed into whimpers.

Cream scooted over, hugged her and whispered sweet words in her ear, trying to decipher how she overlooked Amy' s hyper emotions and feelings towards Sonic and how she wasn't able to help her friend with more dedication when she first met Sonic. In a way, if she admitted to the growing hole in her stomach, that this was her fault. If she'd given Amy the push of a true friend, then they wouldn't be here, blaming themselves for something that never truly involved their involvement. But she needed to blame something, and that smiling teddy bear on Amy's bed wasn't going to cut it.

* * *

**I'm really surprised by the number of story alert subscribers! I'm new here, so this is a very big thing for me, and I'm grateful for that, really, I truly am. **

**Oh, and maybe a note about the story...**

**Well, I'm not sure how this is going to lead to, especially the development between Shadow and Tikal. I keep on thinking about them, but eventually write about Wave and Jet's relationship or either hers and Silver's or Sonic-Sally-Amy instead. But don't worry, I'm gonna write something about Tikal and Shadow soon enough, I just hope it doesn't get deleted out of my mind...**

**Anyway enjoy, and if you have any pointers -or a good thing to say-or bad-, please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**FEBRUARY**

* * *

**WEEK THREE**

* * *

**.**

**.**

Wave needed to transfer all her tension into something, preferably non-living and wouldn't complain about receiving a good bruising. Instantly, she thought about Jet. If she hadn't had that dumb argument with him, then he'd be the first person she'd be running to, and probably the only. That was what best friends did-they allowed themselves to take the blame of something that never even involved them. Virtually, it was a foolish thing, but when Jet had once stood up for her, and apologized for what he couldn't help her with, she had realised that it meant a lot to her that she had met him.

And with everything that wasn't going according to her ideals happening right in front of her, Wave needed his conceited, snarky, and comforting remarks more than ever.

The thing with Jet was what she wanted off her back the most and that was why she decided that a shower would be good to take off the additional discomfort. And by the morning, she knew she had to talk to Jet, apologize, and have him give her something she'd be able to work with so she'd feel normal again.

* * *

.

.

Amy couldn't help but grimace at her reflection today.

Her hair was still vibrant as ever, something she wasn't sure to please or curse about, but that really didn't matter, because everything about her bright hair was contrast to what she felt inside right now. If she let her mind wander, she realised that the dull swell of her gut and throat had been caused by Sonic –and Sally-, a total stranger she couldn't hold a ten minute conversation with.

Thinking about it more deeply, she wondered just why she felt like her world crumbled. Because, this feeling inside of her- whatever it was- couldn't be caused by Sonic or Sally, and she was truly sure about that. But she was also certain that Sonic fitted into it, she only had to answer the question 'Where?'

Maybe it was his grinning. Did that account to her liking him? His looks were of course a good benefit to that, but she had to be serious, and assert her feelings to something that wasn't exterior. If she wanted to lose that gaping in her chest, she needed to use her head now, and right this instant, she needed to concentrate.

She patted her fingernails across the wooden table, and tried homing into her life, her whole life since this year.

It was kind of sickening that she pictured Sonic in the light of memories. She didn't want to be tied around his finger, no matter how indirectly it was, plus, he didn't even know about her feelings. If she had revealed her small crush on him, what would he had thought?

But then again, the answer didn't matter anymore. Wasn't he with Sally now? Didn't that mean he obviously didn't see her in the sense of dating? It was probably her insecurities to his feelings that she felt this way, and it was also probable that whatever feelings she possessed for him, wouldn't be responded in a way she wished him to. That was why she felt grimy. It had to be her insecurity towards her feelings that point at Sonic. Sally didn't fit in the equation at all, maybe a minor or major obstacle, but she wasn't in the equation.

Amy smiled to herself, happy that she got something out of thinking. She thanked Tikal for telling her to think about her feelings, and also Wave too. She had told her to pull herself together and even though the words were rude and a bit insulting, Amy knew she had to accept her friend's encouragement, because right now, Amy knew that Wave had her own problems to deal with. One thing Amy never did was hold someone back.

She took her phone then, and dialled someone she never even thought she'd be calling.

"Hello, Shadow? Can we meet up?"

* * *

.

.

Shadow actually hadn't expected someone to call him today, nor was he even thinking that that particular someone would be none other Amy Rose. How she got his number, he didn't want to know, and surprisingly, he didn't mind. How that fitted into his mind was a disturbance, and since he didn't want to ponder about it any longer, he stepped out of the apartment and rode the elevator in silence.

Well, that was what he initially wanted, but Sonic had caught up to him faster than the metal doors could close shut.

He sighed, readying himself to be gruff as Sonic flexed his muscles to talk.

"So…"

"What do you want?" He inquired, not thinking of adding his last name since Shadow knew Sonic would retort with something of similar saying. After all, he was a faker.

Sonic, oddly, remained silent, and until they finally reached the lobby, he spoke. "Heard that you and Amy are getting along."

Somehow, Shadow was surprised by the suspicion laced in his tone. "And why do you care?"

Sonic shrugged, and for the first time, Shadow couldn't tell if he was being nonchalant about it, or pushing the subject off in that simple gesture. For a while, he praised Wave's previous description on Sonic. "Then what are you going to do?"

"About you and Amy?" Sonic asked, staring around the expansive lobby and looking oddly out of place. But he had blue hair; he would always be out of place.

"I don't care about that. Where are you going?"

Sonic then beamed and refused to say anything else as he jogged off, leaving Shadow staring as he turned a corner and disappeared. Shortly after that, Amy entered the complex, oblivious to the fact that Sonic had probably skipped off to his date with the Acorn girl.

* * *

.

.

Amy ate her doughnut silently in the small café she took Shadow to. It was never fully packed, but still held that familiar buzz of people, and that was why she always liked this place. The scents of food made her point out that everything was homely made and she sometimes had to come face to face with the times she thought this place was managed by the Russian Mafia. That, or there was a really clumsy employee cleaning dishes.

Too involved in her thinking to notice that Shadow didn't even like this place with the Russian language running around above his head (he understood the language perfectly enough to decipher what was something pleasant and what wasn't), Amy took her time to stare at the dying fly on the window pane.

Shadow, perhaps, wasn't in his best of moods today, and had actually snapped a toothpick near Amy's ear to put her attention on him so he'd leave and try to muffle out the foreign blaspheming from his head.

With a slow breath, he sat back in his seat, and was relieved she actually snapped her head to meet his eyes. They questioned her in silence.

Amy ducked her head low, playing with the piece he broke off. "I needed someone to talk to."

His face was grim. "You have your friends."

"You're also my friend."

Shadow couldn't deny that. "Not your closest."

She looked up and smiled. "Does it matter if you aren't? Close friends and friends are the same. They are all just friends."

"Difference is one of them doesn't need another word to change its meaning."

"Stop being mean to me. I'm very happy that we are friends, so I'm going to relish it no matter what." She actually said that to him, and he could see that her hands were clenched, as if she was testing what he'd do if she said those words to him.

"You think I'm going to walk away." He didn't question, and she sure as hell knew that he wanted her answer either way.

His stare was cold and so distant and very pretty. She smiled at him now, and it was more relaxed and real than the other one. "You know, I thought I'd fall for you when I saw your eyes." She confessed, and there was no blush, no discreet roll of her eye or the tendency of her tilting her head to avoid eye contact. Amy just kept on staring at his ruby eyes, and he was taken aback. It was enough to make him lose that contact.

"You fell for Sonic. Really dumb of you because-"

"I haven't had a proper conversation with him?" She ended for him, tilting her head to the side, probably evaluating how similar he was to Sonic, but at the same time wondering how different he was as well. And if Shadow wanted to feel something about this, he didn't want to feel vulnerable, exposed, and wary, and those were the exact feelings he felt right now.

He needed to keep talking so she'd stop staring at him like Wave did. "How's that going anyways?"

Amy shrugged. "What do you think?"

Crappy, tiring, crappy and more tiring was what he thought. "Dampening,"

"Not a word I'd use, but yeah, I guess it is dampening. But that's me; I fall for the one guy who seems to be falling for Sally, what a change of pace."

Firstly, he wanted to tell her that Sonic was currently on a date with the Acorn girl just to see her reaction, but something else in her sentence made him more curious. "Change of pace?"

Amy drank her coffee, thinking about his question in nonchalance. No point in not telling him. "When I was in middle school, the first guy I fell for had a major crush on Tikal. My first love was totally enthralled by her and he kept talking about her like she was a goddess and everything. That time I didn't even know her since she was the new kid, so I grew kind of envious of her, and began hating her." She ended explaining, biting her lip to calm herself. And then she smiled, and everything about what she said meant nothing but a fading memory. "Horrible, right?"

He almost nodded his head since his mind replayed the pictures he'd seen of the girl. He shook his head to take those thoughts away and decided to change the subject because this was why Amy was here. She needed a change in scenery, and talking to Tikal, Wave and Cream, her best friend, actually meant the same ordeals would meet her- indirectly or directly.

"You play soccer, why?"

Amy smiled. "Aha, so you did see me."

"Not hard to notice when you were screeching like some sort of banshee." He should have jabbed at her hair as well.

Amy's smile turned sour and she bit into her snack. Glaring at him, she spoke. "Like I said, stop being mean to me. I'm paying for half of this, so be kind at least so I can tell you why I play soccer."

"I'm paying the other half." He pointed out, drinking his coffee just to spite her a bit.

She only rolled her eyes. "Gentlemen pay the whole thing, but obviously you aren't, so let me start with the story." Amy shifted in her seat and cleared her throat dramatically. "The story begins in my parent's house, the one I currently live in, and the small cute puppy I saw in the winter-"

"Just what are you trying to do? Bore me to death?" This was beginning to be a very bad idea.

Amy slapped his hand. "Shut up, I'm telling the story. I'm heartbroken, so listen." She ordered, and he complied, and to make sure he was in his element, he looked ready for war. "Okay, now where was I…ah, okay, so the puppy I found in winter. I called him Jay, don't know why, but the name just clicked then. So I became friends with Jay and I got to keep him, but he died two years ago, so I kind of felt saddened."

Shadow was already done with his meal, and didn't actually want to continue this conversation, but he and Amy were…friends, so he sucked it up. "How'd it die?"

"How'd _he _die," she corrected with a smile. "Got hit by a speeding car trying to save my life, that's how he died."

Shadow's face grew blank. "You were…"

She shrugged. "My dad bought me a ball and I was playing outside. I kicked it in the street, ran after it and then there was this big car rushing around the curb. I froze with the ball in my hand and didn't know what to do but stare at the car speeding towards me. Next thing I know, I'm sitting on the road, with blood on my hands and Jay lying on the road, leg all twisted." She frowned at the memory. The memory Jay had in her life was something that made her smile every time, but telling the tale of his death, she couldn't help but feel sorrowful. "I don't know why I cried on that day. Was it the fact that I almost died, or that I'd never see Jay again, but either way, my love for soccer grew into something to make me feel closer to him."

Shadow knew his face was devoid of emotion, but he felt that he needed to do something to stop her from digging too deep in a memory like that. And since he didn't know much about Amy Rose, he was left feeling uncomfortable in a comfy seat.

She continued speaking though. "I still can't believe I remember the license plate of that car. I haven't told anyone about it, so please, keep it on the low." Amy then sighed, as if feeling that memory finally fade away instead of being locked up. "I'd like to go someplace else now."

Shadow accepted that and made quick work to stand up and pay for his and hers meal.

"So you are a gentleman?"

He only rolled his eyes.

* * *

.

.

Wave squared her shoulders, held her breath, and braved herself with a mantra until she knew she couldn't keep holding out the air her lungs needed. She exhaled and let her mind ease back to a near calmness before she walked towards Jet's front door. She was going to pick him up like she usually did, and then she planned to have a conversation with him so they'd patch things up and then he'd listen to her, and finally make her see what she was missing in the drama of these events.

That was the plan since she awoke and it was still the plan when he opened the door and stood there, staring at her, face all blank. But by a second, Wave forgot everything she wanted to say and stared back at him. Not in competition, but dubiously dumb.

Jet, however, had his bearings straight. He only shrugged and closed the front door and walked passed her, leaving for school without her.

Something clicked and Wave returned to the world of breathing again. She rushed towards Jet before he even dared to step on that board and leave her chasing after him.

The minute she grabbed his arm, her breath could only stop dead short when he _glared_ at her, making her drop her arm to her side and away from his personal space. It was bad enough feeling like he slapped her, but why did he have to look at her like she had done something diabolical. And what was up with the look of betrayal in his eyes as he stood there, hands tucked in his pockets and looking like some kind of stranger.

She was lost, and she felt strangled by her words. "Jet, please, we…need to talk."

She already registered she was pleading, and for his time of all things, but she needed him. She needed someone right now because her tension grew over her and made her sick. The air never was the same after her fight with him, and what she was doing avoiding him by sticking her business in other peoples issues was bad of her.

They needed to talk and work things out. "We need to talk Jet."

He clucked. It was his way of resisting his cackling. "And what do you want me to say Wave? That I'm sorry about our 'dumb argument'? I'm sorry to tell you but I'm not apologizing for what I should have said to you a long time ago."

Wave felt her eyes sting and so badly wanted to slap him and that outrageous conceit he had in himself. "Stop it already. I want to talk to you, if you don't want to, just listen. Why should we risk our friendship with bratty arguments instead of working things out, Jet? Don't you want to be friends anymore?"

_Don't you want to be my best friend? _The question lingered in the air and she thought about how he'd answer.

But the way he answered was different from her 'YES' with so little differences but a major impact.

"Wave, is that what you see me as? Your best friend?" She looked at him as if he'd just grown an extra head. But he didn't look crazy; it was his voice that caught her off guard. Why was he sad and what was he trying to say by that?

"Jet, I don't get it. What are you trying to say?" Because he wasn't saying he didn't want to be friends with her was what she didn't understand.

He didn't say anything else, but moved forward towards her, had her stumbling back by the surprise. He was close to her face, and she watched with shock as he smiled so sweetly, she couldn't deny the fact that her heart threw up.

"I-Like-You"

She didn't have time to respond, and she didn't know how she would, as he leaned down and swept his lips over hers, taking the air out of her lungs as he pushed her into it, and did these crazy things she always saw but never felt. Her arms were stiff at her sides, and her eyes widened at the shock that she couldn't respond or think of anything to change the situation.

Jet leaned back, and stared at her, a cocky grin smacking those same lips.

"Now how am I supposed to be best friends with a girl that I like?"

His whispered words ran through her as he took his board and left for school. She followed after her shock was gone, and decided that her tension was eased out, but her problems only intensified.

* * *

.

.

With the way Silver kept glancing around classes, peaking through windows, staring at the door and looking perky, it wasn't hard to tell that he was looking for someone. He'd been doing that for a while now, and Sonic was curious, as always, and Shadow, well, he remained silent. His mind was fogged with his own thoughts and he didn't have time to wonder why Silver looked antsy.

"You okay dude?" Sonic asked, more caring than interested. Silver only nodded distractingly.

"You need to pee?" Shadow inquired. Silver nodded again.

Sonic smirked and Shadow shook his head in amusement. "Wanna go to a pub?" Again, Silver bobbed.

Shadow couldn't resist. "Do you believe in the Easter Bunny?"

"Are you anorexic?"

"Do you like wearing pink dresses?"

"Have you tried wearing heels?"

"Does make-up go with your eyes?"

"Have you ever tried riding a rollercoaster with a tiger juggling a monkey while you watched yourself bleed out ice-cream?"

Silver glared at them. "I came back at 'pink dresses'."

Shadow shrugged. "We couldn't resist."

Sonic agreed and then looked at Silver. "So who are you looking for?"

"Oh, Wave."

Shadow eyed him curiously. "She did give our boards you know and we paid. Why do you need to further talk with her if she isn't beneficial?"

Sonic and Silver watched Shadow with disbelief. It was one thing that he wasn't social, but seeing people as beneficial banks was just wrong. Too bad they could never correct that, but Sonic decided to push some buttons.

"Why say that Shads?" He diabolically grinned. "What do you benefit from Amy?"

Shadow glared at him and Silver looked surprised. "Do you like her Shadow?"

Again, Shadow threw them daggers as he ignored their questions and went back to reading the thriller book he'd borrowed from the school library. Hopefully, at lunch he'd be allowed the stay in that silent room's confines.

It was then the class door opened wider that Silver turned his head. His smile broadened when Wave scampered into class right about the time the bell rang. She was punctual, he'd realised for a while now that she hated being late and that she always tried achieving her best.

When he waved her over, she looked at him, blinking rapidly with laboured breathing.

Though, what Silver hadn't noticed, and what Shadow did, was that Wave had a look of pure disbelief and stunned features clouding her face. Her walk was a bit off as if she was trying to find her bearings while her mind seemed to be racing over something. Shadow virtually didn't care about her, but the curiosity as to what got Wave Swallow, girl of collection and somewhat coolness, to look so dissembled was digging shallow holes in his head.

She walked towards Silver's table, and without greeting Shadow and Sonic, she flopped in her arms. "Silver, can we go to the park?"

Well, Shadow hadn't expected that, nor had he thought Silver would look that stunned as well at the invitation. Sonic only chuckled and began pondering about what Sally was doing right now in Biology.

* * *

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**Another day another update. Hope you guys enjoy and love! ^.^**


	8. Chapter 8

**I updated real quick neh?**

**Hope you guys find it better than I kind of did.**

* * *

**MARCH**

* * *

**WEEK ONE**

* * *

.

.

Wave had adorned on a dress, something her mother had tailored for her during the three month reign of her leave. The garment was white; a colour Wave favoured, and was strapless, exposing her arms to the air. The fact that it was plain, no ruffles or lacing below was the reason she liked it. The black belt and black jacket just made it her style; though, she hated the brown knee lengthen boots. Her father had assumed that since she was having half of his genes, it'd be better if he also added to her outfit as well.

She had rolled her eyes at her squabbling parents and wondered what had gotten into her that had made her tell them that she was going to hang out with Silver. By now, Wave entertained the thought as to why she just had to keep quite when they assumed the friend had been Jet instead of someone who they hadn't met.

"So, is he cute?" Her mom, Mia, asked her grin mischievous as she inspected her daughter's attire. She liked everything except the shoes. "Must be someone special for you to wear that dress,"

Her whistle made Wave spin around and glare at her. "Mom, you're the one who forced me into this dress." She pointed at herself with shame. "You threatened you'd burn my board. Don't pin anything on me."

Her father, Bryan, entered the room after hearing his daughter's cry. He shook his head at the outfit, but grinned at her manly shoes. "Those shoes will protect you if he tries something on you."

Wave couldn't appease herself by groaning, and since she didn't have a teddy bear to throw at them, she wounded up tapping her nails across her desk. She relished the sound and calmed down. Then, she looked at her parents and tried weighing down each word so they'd get off her back. "Hanging out, not a date, but hanging out. I don't even like Silver, I just thought I'd get to know him better so we'd be friends." That, and she needed someone to talk to that wasn't female and wasn't Jet and wasn't Storm who'd accidentally say everything to Jet.

It was sad. Her last hope was Silver and he probably didn't even know why.

Mia shook her head. "Wave, dear, you know that I first fell for your uncle right?"

Her dad groaned and Wave knew that habit of hers came from his genes. Odd though, it always happened when her mom began the old stories. Mia continued after nudging her husband's ribs. "We shared kisses, hugs and a lot of memories together, but things ended up different. We became friends before the whole dating stuff, so we knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, and knew how to push each other's buttons. At times, those were great virtues, but when fighting came about, well, we knew how to hurt the other more, so we ended up falling out of love."

When she ended, all Wave could think about was Jet. His, Storm's and her friendship and how they understood each other. In a way, her mom was right. If she and Jet had grown up together, knew each other and then miraculously started dating, it'd be odd, because you'd expect something from it. Wave wouldn't say it, but she inwardly wanted the adventure of learning about someone from scratch. Oddly though, Silver didn't have to be the person she invited, but he was the only she knew who matched what she wanted to say out loud.

She smiled at her parents. "Yeah,"

* * *

.

.

When Silver spotted Wave walking towards him, he couldn't help but look stunned at her choice of clothing. He hadn't pictured Wave in a dress before, and seeing it now, complimenting the girl's obvious figure, Silver was everything but quiet when she entered his space and sat next to him on the bench he'd been warming up for the last ten minutes.

"I'm late because of the family." She muttered, and began playing with the zipper of her jacket and when she began pulling it up, covering her upper body, Silver put a hand on hers. She turned to give him a look of obvious pain promising if he didn't pull away.

He did, but after he pulled the zipper down and left her plain dress exposed. "You look good in it. Never knew you could dress up though."

Wave shrugged her shoulders. "I don't dress up; my mom's the one who thinks I'm some sort of doll. Blame her." She said, smiling to herself that he actually complimented her without realising it. She liked that he was obtuse at times.

Silver was busy eyeing her seriously. Her hair was in a high ponytail, a big difference to what she liked leaving it flowing against her back with a bandana. At that point, he couldn't look at her thinking that she was the tomboyish girl that had made him, Sonic and Shadow awesome boards. For this moment of light, Wave Swallow was a girl who didn't know that she looked pretty in her dress.

He didn't know he'd been smiling at her until she pointed it out.

"Hey, Silver, you're a guy, right?"

He blinked and dropped his gaze down and then at her. "I'm pretty sure I'm not female Wave."

She blushed, and looked away with a snort. Though, he didn't know what he did to make her do that, he liked it that she could lose her calmness with him, even by a bit.

Wave then turned back to him, and all her bravado came back and then turned into a heap of anxiety. "Look, I just need some advice, okay?"

He noted her distressed eyes and unconsciously moved closer to her. "Yeah, but why from me?"

Surely, Wave could have said that she didn't have anyone else to dump her worries on, but that didn't mean anything. The fact that she was about to testify something that bugged her heart meant that she trusted the guy. If she'd taken Shadow, she knew he'd be judgemental as Amy had said once, and Sonic, Wave didn't know if he'd take her serious with the topic. So, the last option had been Silver, but she also knew that Sonic and Shadow could appease her, but she just had to have Silver.

And instead of answering him with that long paragraph, Wave chose to speak lowly, and as meekly as she thought she'd be. "Jet…he…he kissed me and I don't know what to think about it."

Silver had had to lean down to hear every word that seemed to be getting a lower octave than the first. The third or maybe fourth one was what caught him by shock. Wave had just confessed to him that someone kissed her, and by some sort of anomaly, Silver wasn't happy.

"Why?" If he sounded upset, he couldn't put it pass him when Wave looked up blushing, and putting a finger on her bottom lip as if recalling how the smooch had felt.

But the reason behind her sudden movement was by his tone. In all the weeks she'd seen Silver, she never seen the guy look upset. It was then she recalled the time in the cafeteria with her staring into his sunshine coloured eyes. By another second, she decided she should stop thinking about his uniqueness because she came for another reason.

"He said…he said he liked me, didn't want to be best friends because he, well, liked me. In the middle of that, he kissed me and I'm not sure how I should react." She said, a bit calmer now that she knew Silver was there, looking at her, calculating, looking smart and concentrated, and it was on her. Yes, she was a girl, and the sight of him looking so intently at her was making her feel appreciated.

Silver contained the feeling of agitation of her words and needed to concentrate on what it was she wanted-the advice. "Did you respond to the kiss?"

The word kiss made her feel warm. "Uh, no, was, umm…you know shocked…it-it was…my first…" Now, she felt herself blush at the embarrassment. Jet had been her first kiss, but was he her first love as well? How was she to differentiate between close family friendship and close loving one?

"Then that should prove problematic." Silver said, and Wave wondered if his vacuous-ness was sometimes a façade. "You've been best friends for a while, right?"

She nodded. "Since elementary,"

"And you've never thought of liking him more than friends until the kiss?"

She blushed. Seriously, that word again? "Yeah,"

"So it's either your dense or you just denial about your feelings for him."

Wave narrowed her eyes. She may be distracted by her…kiss…but she wasn't dumb to realise that he actually and purposely called her dense with the effect that an insult could be. She decided not to poke him on that. "I don't know if I have feelings for him. He just kissed me, I'm all surprised, and then I feel at ease, but at the same time I feel troubled. It's like I should feel something other than blankness."

"You feel blank because of his kiss?"

She worried her lips with her teeth. "No, his feelings towards me are what makes me feel blank." Gosh, how could she be talking so easily about this with Silver? It was so perplexingly right that she was stunned. "I don't know Silver, I guess I feel like a sheet of paper waiting for something to come along so I'd either be drawn on or shredded into feeble pieces."

Wave never knew she'd feel her heart accelerate this much. If her worries about Jet and her probably losing the friendship built for over eight years hadn't been put into her mind the minute she woke up, Wave was sure she wouldn't have to worry about heartburn. She was just so cramped into a box to think, breathe and make something out of the situation. How could Jet, her best friend, harbour feelings for her? How could she have overlooked them long enough for him to snap, argue with her, and have him kiss her to finally pull her to his reality?

Just what was she supposed to do so she couldn't mess up their friendship? Did she need to date him so she'd feel the contact again?

"Don't,"

Wave was so lost, she hadn't realised Silver had said something until he repeated her name countlessly. By the time he got through, she was quivering and feeling down and weak. He took her head and pushed her down to his shoulder, whispering comforting words to what she felt troubled by.

"Wave, don't."

She sniffled and kept silent. But a finger poking his stomach probed for an enunciation.

He breathed heavily and she moved with his motion. "Don't feel obligated to like him Wave. If he likes you, then that doesn't mean you should too. You can't worry about friendship when you involve something like like-like. I can't say for sure it's love, but I know one thing. If you put whatever feelings Jet has towards you in the obligation jar, you're going to lose him as a friend in the harshest of ways. So don't think about like that, okay? I don't want to see you hurt."

Wave knowingly released a tear as she nodded. She always knew Silver was dependable, she just never assumed he'd be the great counsellor she wanted. For a while, they stayed like that because she couldn't find an excuse to push him away after what he had just told her.

"Thanks, Silver, you're kinda the best right now."

He chuckled and held her close.

* * *

.

.

Tikal had been taking a stroll through the park, thinking nothing other than when her father was going to come around since her birthday was tomorrow. Well, not exactly tomorrow. During the events that had transpired scathingly in the month, her birthday had been forgotten, and she only realised that when it was two minutes before the day of her birth passed. She had shrugged it off because there had been only sixty seconds left anyways.

But she had thanked Trish for the lovely cake she had tried to bake though. It was chocolate, sadly, not her favourite flavour, but Tikal hadn't pointed it out and had eaten the food with gratefulness and had ignored the sinister crunching by gulping down soda.

She had then also decided that Trish was to never be allowed in the kitchen without being told that the stove was not a towel dryer and that onions did in fact, make people cry, not cause some disease as Trisha had called it when her eyes turned teary and itchy.

By the time she was turning a corner to sit at the bench that stared at the fountain, Tikal was surprised to see Wave and Silver, sitting looking comfortable and away from the world. She was about to trot towards them when something caught her ankle and pulled her down into the bush besides her.

She rubbed her behind from the unceremonious thud it had made from the impact of the force. When she turned to give her captor or whatever some piece of her mind, she hadn't thought that she'd be staring at Shadow, sitting under the tree. A book of some sort was tucked next to him as he blankly stared back at her.

To say that she was surprised would be an understatement. "Are you spying on them?"

He glared at the assumption. "I was here long before they arrived."

Tikal narrowed her eyes. The early bird got the worm. Who knows what he had heard. "So, why am I here then?"

"You were being dumb enough to go over there and make things worse." He said it just as she planned and she grinned.

"So you were spying on them."

Shadow rolled his eyes, and she continued her fit of giggling. He took a glance of her, and then went to read the book he had by his side.

Tikal didn't probe on why Wave and Silver were even together, but instead went to sit next to Shadow and try peaking in the small book. "Is this your diary?"

"Do I look like the type to keep one, girl?" So it was girl then? She liked it that he wasn't calling her a fool.

Tikal shook her head. "You are the type to carry a journal."

When she tried taking the tome from his hands, he closed it shut and placed it under his knee, far from her grasp. If she tried taking it from under there, she was certain he'd break her fingers off. So, to keep safety and probably a nice conversation going, she ended up thinking back to Wave and Silver.

"Do you know why they are here?"

He only looked at her in his coldness and she shifted a bit at the stare. Slowly, maybe deliberately, he said. "You should know. I'm not associated with any of their lives and too busy to care."

Without much thought, she quickly went to what he said. "Busy? What do you do then?"

Shadow was slightly surprised by her question and the reaction was something he'd never knew he'd receive. A ray of hope being bestowed upon him by her, and that was disturbing. He shifted away from her, and she didn't mind that he detested proximity. She should have known actually.

"None of your business,"

In that moment, Tikal knew that he was mysteriously interesting. She stared at him, taking in the sight of his unique blend of genes that had caused that eye colouring. His facial features were appreciated very much by her eyes, but if she looked longer and very much deeper, she could see the walls guarding him and putting up the visage that people saw every day.

Shadow Hedgehog was very enigmatic and not to forget alluring.

"You have beautiful eyes Shadow." She commented sincerely. It caught him off guard momentarily because his eyes had always been pronounced as frightening, different, pretty, and sometimes angry, but beautiful wasn't one of them.

He wasn't so sure how to reply to her statement as she turned to look at her hands, her face serene as she leaned back, not at all hiding the blush that crept onto her face. He then remembered Sonic's room, the pictures and how the scene of her being comfortable had caught him, but he didn't know how.

"Hn,"

* * *

.

.

When classes finally ended, Amy was surprised to see Sally leaving alone, without Sonic by her side as usual. She would have asked why, but she figured Sally wouldn't bother with her anymore, so Amy left it like that and took out her soccer outfit from her locker so she'd go to the girl's locker room and change.

Passing the only opened classroom made her curious, so she peaked in and gasped loudly enough to have Sonic's attention roaming over her head. He eyed her curiously as she watched him with wide eyes and her heart immediately began the circus. Why was he here? Why was she still here anyways? She should leave, and go to soccer practice before she made a fool out of herself.

With that, she slowly decided to leave him be, but when he waved at her, grinning like the time she first saw him, Amy was stuck in place and of breath. Eventually, she had told her feet to come over to his side so she'd finally allow a decent conversation to be strung between them.

She was about to say something when she saw the camera in his hands. Specifically, the pictures of Tikal, and when she thought of being jealous, she immediately realised that these pictures were taken when Bark Polar Bear had been doing the lessons. Of course she remembered. She had given Tikal that dress a year ago for her…birthday.

Oh no.

She quickly pulled out her mobile and called Wave. Sonic only eyed her curiously and she tried not to make her blushing apparent. Wave picked up and groaned.

"_What!"_

"Wave, we forgot Tikal's birthday!" Amy yelled pacing around the table, clearly forgetting Sonic was there. "We are horrible friends!"

The other line stayed quite but Amy heard the flipping of paper and the word 'crap' being said. Wave probably checked the calendar.

"_We need to make up for it somehow. I'll call later, tell you what I've come up with and make sure you don't tell anyone, but Espio and Cream. But damn, how could we forget?"_

Amy figured that it was because of the drama. "Okay, text me later and I'll also come up with something then."

She hung up and sighed. "Really, how selfish of me to forget something like that?" She mumbled to herself.

"I don't know about that."

Amy yelped and nearly threw her phone at Sonic. She then face palmed her face. She had completely forgotten about his presence.

"I'm so sorry." How could she make a fool out of herself with his company?

Sonic shrugged, but otherwise didn't say anything. Amy figured that she'd stayed too long, but she wasn't willing to pass up this chance of getting into some conversation with him. She instantly snatched his camera, flicked through the pictures and when she found the beach dyed in orange, she couldn't help but marvel at the quality.

"Not as good as Bark, but I like the feeling. It's really beautiful."

Sonic looked up at her, all surprised by the compliment and her abrupt movement to say yes. She giggled at his stunned face. "What?" He asked.

She giggled again and gave him back his camera. "You look like you've never heard the word beautiful before."

He didn't chuckle nor did he smile, and she found that rather pleasant since he was trying to register words. Again, she giggled, and that made her receive a look that was akin to a glare. Oh, now she had to laugh. He couldn't play that card so well as Shadow.

"Sorry, but I seem to find you funny all of a sudden." She ended up giggling again and then decided she really should leave. But before that, she bent down, held her hand over his shoulder and touched his cheek to hers as she stared down at the camera with the same picture. "You're very awesome at taking photos. I think you'd be a great photographer."

Amy then left, feeling much better with herself, but knowingly aware of the rush of blood nuzzling her cheeks.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for not updating soon. School's been hectic and winter is bringing my fingers to freeze above the keyboards. Oh, thanks for the reviews, story alerts and favourites. Those are great motivators guys. Really, thanks neh!**

* * *

**MARCH**

* * *

**WEEK TWO**

* * *

**.**

**.**

Sonic felt rather skittish today. His mind had been fogged with Sally's weird way of acting, and lately, that had brought him to rethinking why he chose her to be his girlfriend. Sure, she was pretty, a great athlete with the perfect figure and the brains to outsmart him but not Shadow, she wasn't even close to his level. Thinking about that, he was also lining up on the fact that Sally had an attitude towards being inferior to someone.

She wasn't insecure, that he could say without a doubt, but she had that pride in herself. As if she was someone important, someone who had everything on her shoulders and wouldn't permit nonsense until she completed her tasks, and those take a while to accomplish. Especially since, she never wanted help, never asked for it, and never accepted it either. She did things on her own, found comfort and great pride in her independent accomplishment and made people left out.

Sally had everything he wanted actually. She kept him grounded, in track, and assertive at times, but he liked fooling around. He joked with her, and she'd laugh or blush if the tale had gotten to her heart. Those times, though rare, was something he treasured, and he had the feeling she did to.

But, the only problem between them was her commitment complex. He was certain she wasn't a freewill person, and she held that look in her eyes that told him she wanted to settle things then and now. In a way, that was the reason he felt cramped when he was around her. It was just like walking eggshells around her, and until she dropped the bomb of a yearlong relationship that sounded more of five years, Sonic was bound to bleed out soon.

Now, was that a healthy relationship then?

He couldn't help but think about that with her, and right now, with Sally holding his hand, and walking together in the mall going shopping, his mind had been caught on the possibilities of what ifs. The main one being 'What if he never fell for her like this?'

"Sonic, look, isn't this cute?" She asked with a true smile smacked on her mouth as she looked at a necklace with a rose impeded in its pendent. It was a plain silvery colour and he had to say it would match her blue eyes.

He was already at the door as she marvelled at the trinket. "You want it?"

She casted her gaze away momentarily. "It's nice, but…I don't know. Maybe after my allowance…" She was interested in the thing; he could see it so clearly it made him blind. Chuckling, he pulled her hands and walked into the store with her while she tried protesting, all the while giggling and having her time of fun.

Sally had very soft hands. It was hard to think that she did karate.

The male clerk studied them as they reached the counter, and already, he had the necklace in a black box with a bow tied around the cube. Sonic arched his brow in question and the guy behind the desk shrugged. "Your eyes show a lot. That's business kid."

Sally took the box and Sonic paid, but received half the money he gave. Again, he watched the old coot in question. "Okay, you're really creeping me out man."

The clerk bobbed his head towards a very elated Sally looking at her reflection in the mirror, the necklace laced around her slender neck. Sonic smirked at her as she tried hiding her happiness behind a cool visage but the smile was oh so present and very persistent too. Oddly enough, he didn't feel the effect of kissing her right now.

"I'm the owner and what I do is never questioned. Go. Take her out to that café in the food district. It's cheap, and probably fit both your budgets."

Sonic thanked the guy and lead Sally out of the store with her hand. "Let's get something to eat Sal."

"Sonic?" She stopped and also did he.

His brows quirked at her blush, and he gulped. "…Yeah?"

Sally was about a head short of his height. Her eyes were levelled with his upper lip and she kept her stare rather occupied on them. He managed to notice, and smirked playfully before bending down and meeting her eye level. "Is something wrong Sally Acorn?"

He made sure to say everything slow and so much deliberate his lips practically mewled with each letter. It made her cheeks change to a vibrant pink, and he moved away before she pushed forward and took his lips for her own time. He liked teasing her. Her exasperation boiled his playfulness and it was probably the most jovial thing they did together.

Kissing, hugging and cuddling-well not cuddling. Sally Acorn didn't cuddle, she wasn't a baby girl. She sat between his legs and read her novel while he tried to concentrate with his sleep. They didn't cuddle, so he practically never bought her a girly perfume because hugging was a thin line away from being called cuddling. Kissing was what they mostly did as a couple, and holding hands, and right now, they weren't doing either.

Inwardly, Sonic didn't know if he was feeling relieved or disappointed. But he felt tired. He just didn't know if it was physically or not.

He decided not to think about it anymore. The last time he thought those thoughts, was three days before he broke off a five month relationship with his previous girlfriend. And looking at the time he spent with Sally, it was still probably a month or less.

Pulling her by the elbow, they entered the recommended café and Sally huffed before giving him a peck on the cheek. Sonic sighed, wondering where the warmth had gone to.

* * *

.

.

She hadn't expected seeing Jet today.

Maybe it had to do with her imagination, which, if she admitted, had gone off radar for a while now leaving her a bit mellow, but Amy was surely certain that Jet looked nothing but the narcissist guy she thought him to be.

Moreover, she hadn't anticipated him calling her over for the possibility of chatting. She didn't move, apparently the shock of a lifetime got to her, so instead, he travelled the distance and caught her in the small umbrella of the ice-cream stall, her plain vanilla already in hand slightly oozing to the side.

He stopped right there and Amy licked her treat. "Yes, Jet?"

"I kissed Wave."

She blinked and continued her licking. "And have you achieved something from it?"

Amy smiled at his confused face. Of course he was expecting her to jump him, but she was slightly less peeved or maybe ecstatic about his and Wave's relationship.

And it was kind of an insult from him to think she hadn't noticed his dreamy look when Wave decided to change perfumes to cover up the scent of oil. Whatever he found pleasant, Amy had found it disturbing.

Jet sighed as if releasing the tension. It wasn't like he was asking for her blessing, but he expected a loud reaction. That was why he came prepared for battle. "You aren't mad?"

"That you obviously like Wave? How could I?" Amy asked incredulously and slightly pointed the tip of her ice-cream at him. "I mean, hello, you're Jet Hawk, player of the month, and you're ogling Wave, whom is known as the sassy girl who's got the time to hassle boys, who by the looks of it adore it. Now, am I really the one who is going to be mad?"

He ran a hand over his face and growled. "Damn,"

Ah, so he really did care about Wave. Knowingly, Amy took his hand, and led him to the bench sitting against the wall. When they both sat, she took her hand away and placed it on his shoulder. "Look Jet, I get you, you like Wave. Don't look so sad about it."

Wearingly, Jet eyed her. "Why are you being kind to me Rose?"

Maybe it was because he was experiencing something similar to her dilemma. "Wave's my friend too you know."

"I don't think she wants to be friends anymore…"

Amy rolled her eyes. Since when did he become a pessimist? "Please, Jet, Wave adores you-"He looked at her all sparkly like and she had to rephrase that almost instantly. "Not the way you think, but like siblings and a pack. She doesn't want to lose that."

"She told you this?"

"No, Wave was a readable person during middle school. Dense, but readable,"

It was odd, talking to Jet, trying to give him advice on his apparently complex love life when she herself was experiencing her own troubles mutual to what he was feeling. He liked Wave, more than a friend like, and Amy was sure by tomorrow, Typhoon wasn't going to like the idea. Switching these places up, Amy would put herself in Typhoon's body and Sonic in Jet's, Sally would be…Wave and all the different pieces would mould and make up her own hectic love life. So yeah, she understood Jet, much more than he thought she did.

"Did you talk to her after that?"

He looked at her. "No, couldn't."

"Nerves?"

Jet rolled his eyes. "How am I supposed to know? I'd never felt that way before with anyone."

Amy snickered and ate her cone slowly. "Not even with Typhoon?"

"She's a fling."

"Wave doesn't know that." She told him and he was startled. Maybe she should have been subtle about it. He looked like he needed the cover.

And it was surprising too. Seeing Jet jumbled, searching for words and all the works just to get her on his side. Sure, he could give her chocolates and candy, but Amy wouldn't betray her friends. Not when the month had passed and had given Wave a kiss via Jet.

"Have you really thought about this?" She asked a while later and after her delicacy had disappeared. He then gave her an inquisitive look and she could see that he was slightly bordering understanding, albeit hesitantly. "You and Wave have been friends since elementary, right? Don't you think you might risk that link?"

Jet actually bit his lip. "I…yeah, I did think about it. The worst crappiest three years of my life."

She was startled by the way this conversation was heading, and if she admitted it, she felt thankful that Jet was telling her this, trusting her with all this even though he probably didn't have anyone thinkable to give this all, but what he was saying…

It was a rough estimation, but Amy was certain that whatever feelings Jet had towards Wave had begun during middle school, and here she thought it was about last September when he hadn't been happy with Storm's obtuse clinging.

"You liked her then?" She was jealous of the twisted commitment he had with Wave. "All this time…wow!"

Jet then stood up and Amy was slightly surprised from the movement. Standing up herself, she nudged his shoulder. Maybe it was something she said.

"I wanna buy her something….for her birthday."

She rutted her brows. "It's in June."

He chuckled and walked towards the jewellery stand she hadn't notice. "Not Wave's but Tikal. Her birthday, I forgot it."

"Oh, well, why not join me then?" She said all bubbly as she was. She got it that he wanted a change of topics. "I need to buy something for her too you know." Jet gave her an incredulous look and she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know, what kind of friend am I to forget her birthday. But seriously, high school drama got to me okay?"

"Sonic?"

She shrugged. "Sonic."

He gave her another look, one she thought she'd never seen him pull off. Concerned? "You look hurt."

She held up a hand before his keen eye could do anymore damage. "Please, we're not close friends. Don't drop your nosiness with me."

* * *

.

.

Wave hadn't really thought of buying Tikal anything, probably because she had nothing to buy. Her allowance was spent into the bandana lying across her bed right now, and half of that amount had been used for extra chunks of food and colas. So, right now, Wave was flat broke and had nothing but her blank sheets of paper accompanying her in the silence.

Or at least, that was what she hoped for.

It was her mind's fault actually. It kept playing two things, and these weren't things she was supposed to care about, much less think about. So why did her mind keep on playing Jet's openly given kiss and Silver's keen words of advice?

If she wanted to think about it, which she deeply and secretly wanted to, she considered each of them as something close, despite Silver random appearance and short lived conversations, she found him a good influence to her, albeit little. Silver had to be the easiest person she had ever met. He was just that gullible. Plus, the certainty of being able to trick him lingered enough for her to think about April Fools.

But this thing with Jet had to be a no-no. He had kissed her, in the street, during daylight. There had to be something wrong about that picture, right? Maybe he should have been more discreet or a bit more aware that this was her first time and that she needed to take things slow. But that wasn't Jet though. He was fast, ready and never patient. He just kept with the flow, never against it, never. And apparently, she wasn't an obstacle in that river of his, maybe a lifesaver.

* * *

.

.

It turns out that Shadow's birthday had been in February.

Sure, this information wasn't something Tikal should feel impacted by, but she couldn't help but think. Maybe if she talked to him more in January she would have had the biggest opportunity to give him a birthday greeting or maybe a tart from a bakery. Okay, maybe not food, but at least a verbal 'Happy Birthday', right?

She should have considered his feelings.

Scratch that and shred it to pieces. Shadow Hedgehog didn't hold many feelings at all. He was just the type to cruise by his birthday and celebrate it by drinking a cola.

No, this was just wrong. She shouldn't be thinking about him, not when she was busy trying to organise her drawers. Trish had sneaked in to do it and she had pushed her out of the room. It had to be because she wanted to have some part of independence, right? It wasn't because she wanted to keep busy as an excuse to leave the thoughts of Shadow. Tikal was certain she didn't hate him, and she wasn't close enough to hold a crush on him as well. It only made perfect sense that she was interested in him. His mysterious aura made her attracted and she wanted to challenge him, push his buttons a bit and make something out of it.

She wasn't a kinder Sally. She was only curious, that's all, and she was sticking to it.

* * *

.

.

"Her birthday is coming up." Sonic said, lying on Shadow's bed and staring at the beige ceiling. "So close by too."

Silver crunched on potato chips on the floor. No one wanted to make Shadow's room grimy. It was probably why Sonic had taken a shower before treading into their dark one's room tonight.

He looked up towards Sonic. "Who, Sally?"

Sonic wiggled his lips. "Yeah,"

Another crunch and Silver finished his dinner. "You're bored with her already?" Of course he knew about Sonic's and his undeniable habits of leaving girls after he found them and his relationship boring. It was only a matter of time until Sally Acorn was just a pigment of beauty with some kind of inner attitude. A really inner attitude; she rarely got mad.

Sonic laid on his stomach now. "I'm not going to dump her Silvs."

Silver rolled his eyes at the petty name and the nearly perfect lie. "You don't like her anymore right? Just get it over with and dump her."

Sonic moved again, now feet embedded into Shadow's pillow and his head hanging skew near the edge. In a few seconds, he'd move again, Silver noted. "I do like her, really I do. I even got jealous when a guy caught sight of her at the mall."

Silver laughed. "You're convincing yourself now?" Sonic narrowed his eyes after moving again. "You don't like her Sonic. It's all in your head. You just want to keep her, but not as a friend and not as a girlfriend."

"I'm not keeping my options open Silver if that's what you're thinking."

Silver threw away the trash and sat back on the warm carpet as he stared at a very blank looking Sonic. So the topic about his girlfriend and a possible break up wasn't getting to him? Really, Silver felt a bit sympathetic here. "You can't convince yourself that you like her Sonic. So why are you stringing her along?"

The question was probably way off by the look of great surprise Sonic gave him. His sudden movements made the book besides the nightstand fall and slither out the old papers slightly from the frame. Shaking his head a bit, Sonic quickly put them back in place and left the book on the nightstand.

The motioning got his mind a bit off the question Silver asked him and he couldn't deny that Silver wanted an answer.

Another look and Silver inferred. "You've got no idea what you're gonna do. Bummer dude."

Sonic kicked the pillow. "Sally is different. She isn't like the other girls okay. She just has this thing about her that makes me attracted to her, that's all."

"If that's the only thing you have to say about her, then you're in the line of a break up Sonic." Shadow said, coming into his room from his night walk. He had wanted to take a shower but stepping in and cutting the tension in his room was his main priority. "Dump her already."

"You aren't subtle." Silver sang.

"So are you." He shot back as he dropped his bag and dumped himself on the chair. Shadow yawned. "Dump her already."

"You're horrible allies." Sonic yelled, throwing the pillow at Silver. "Shouldn't you be supporting our relationship?"

Silver threw the pillow back. "I'm sorry Sonic, but Shadow's right. I don't have a thing against Sally, but it's obvious you're getting tired of her, and knowing you, she isn't going to be in any relationship with you any longer."

"Plus," Shadow held up a finger and pointed it at Sonic, "What you said about the special thing about Sally. Just what makes her the girl you think is so unique that you talk about her like normal girls? Sally has no influence in you Sonic, maybe academically, but personally, I think she's the one stringing you along."

Sonic couldn't allow these two to get to him. What was it that brought the world of his friends have discussions about Sally like she was some disease he needed to rid himself off? Sally was a girl, his girl, and that proved a lot about his feelings towards her.

He opened his mouth to protest and defend her, but finding it hanging with a numbing jaw. He was beginning to realise what Silver and Shadow had said might be true. Everything he had towards Sally felt neutral, not natural as it sometimes should, but neutral. This wasn't a good sign.


	10. Chapter 10

**MARCH**

* * *

**WEEK THREE**

* * *

.

.

Jolting up from her bed when she heard the murmurs of talk, Tikal instantly covered herself, and snuck her duvet up to her chin. She constricted her eyes to adjust to the change of lights, but when her eyes caught sight of vibrant purple and pink, Tikal was more than surprised.

"Amy, Wave?" She eyed the tiredly, rubbing her hands over her face. "What are you two doing here?"

It was 6am, about three hours before school, and as she looked at them, all cladded and toned perfectly in their attires, Tikal wondered just whom this people were. Amy and Wave never got up this early, it was entirely impossible.

"Who are you people and what have you done to my friends?"

Amy groaned, obviously aware that Tikal was referring to their sudden appearance and the early time. Wave rolled her eyes and sat on the bed, taking a breath before lying on the bed and closing her eyes. "We…are sorry Tikal."

Amy and Tikal smiled. Amy pulled herself into the bed too, making Tikal feel their body features squished on both her sides. Amy snuggled closer too and Tikal seeped back under her covers. "We really should have remembered your birthday."

The pillow felt even more uncomfortable, but Tikal didn't mind. "High school drama, that's all there is to it."

"Doesn't make us any less of lousy friends though." Wave muttered sleepily.

Amy bobbed her head, now closing her eyes with a sigh. "We should have considered our link too you know."

Wave was getting drowsier by the minute. "I brought you something."

Tikal giggled. "Oh?"

"Me too, but I bought it though." Amy said, she too tired. "Also Jet, he bought you something too."

Wave became quiet now, and Amy nudged closer into the duvets. Silent reigned over them and they allowed it in respect to their thoughts.

Apparently, Wave decided to clear the air. "It's nothing Tikal. He just kissed me. High school drama, that's all there is to it, right?" There was a sleepy dark chuckle near her ear, and Tikal and Amy slushed around to face Wave, whom had her mouth clasped into the apricot coloured pillow. "Nothing I say."

"Don't deny this Wave." Amy tried, tied. "You shouldn't keep emotions locked up. Trust me, it isn't something healthy."

Tikal nodded. "You need to talk about it."

Wave shuffled out of the pillow and glared at both her friends. "Umm…yeah, maybe later and all, but aren't me and Amy supposed to atone here?"

They all shrugged later. They had plans today for the mall. Atonement can be done later when they got some extra sleep anyways.

* * *

.

.

African History was a rare assignment, and judging by their teacher's perplexed look, Amy was certain that the pulling of suggestions out of the large hat game wasn't maybe a great idea to begin with. Mrs Jude, their perplexed teacher here, stood like a tall model, young, lean and very beautiful. Amy wondered why she hadn't taken up modelling, and when she'd had asked after they shared beauty tips, she'd been surprised that modelling wasn't her ideal career. Seemingly, teaching brats was been something appealing in her books.

Mrs Jude clapped her hands when the class ruptured in murmurs. Obviously about the person who put Africa in the suggestion hat. Amy noted that most were happy with the idea, some unpleased, luckily, she was eager to learn about the continent. Who knows what fashionable tips Africa could portray from the research she was sure she'd be doing.

"Okay, so African History it is. Luckily I'll be needed this report around the end of the end of this term, so you've got until the last days of April to send the homework in." Mrs Jude pronounced, sitting on her desk as she flipped through the small atlas she carried in her large bag. Another attribute Amy liked about her was her stylish leather bags. Seriously, who was the lucky guy who married her?

Cream was sitting beside her near the class's various windows. She nudged Amy away from her gazing. "Hey, this is a pair thing right? We should do this together."

Amy was about to reply with a very obvious acceptance to that, but Mrs Jude came through again with her slick voice. "So, instead of you guys choosing partners, I'm going to do it myself."

Amy gave an apologetic look at Cream, and Cream shrugged it off, going back to listening to their teacher.

Mrs Jude held her tongue, Amy could see it, and knowing her, she was holding on to something mischievous. "You know guys, I think luck is on your side."

"You're going to tell us where you bought that fake wedding ring?"

The class chuckled and Mrs Jude passed a warning look at the back corner. She clucked her tongue and gave a wave of her finger. "Please, this is real diamond. I don't need a brat like you telling me that it ain't real."

Amy groaned. "We believe you."

"Says you,"

Really, who was muttering?

Mrs Jude rolled her eyes. "Anyways, the lucky thing is all my history students are evenly put down, meaning that there'd be a girl-boy pairing in my list. Isn't this nice class?"

Nice? This was a perfect opportunity. Amy could practically feel her romantic heart frolicking in her chest. There was this possibility that she and Sonic could be paired for something like this, and she was begging that Mrs Jude could read her mind and allow this one wish to happen. She so badly wanted Sonic and her to be partners as much as she wanted Sally to see that luck was on her side now.

"The pairings will be posted tomorrow. Oh, and the principal informed me that by April or June, after the May holiday, the school will begin extra-curricular classes, so if you feel like joining the chess club, baseball, basketball or whatever this school covers, then be ready. Try outs are around the corner."

* * *

.

.

Seeing to it that everyone accidently misplaced the dates of the calendar and forgotten Tikal's birthday, Espio, despite his obvious lack of socialising, suggested that they should all sit together at lunch, and maybe get to catch up on stuff, or at least that was what Wave thought when he said 'I want to sit with Honey and Tikal.".

Really, the dude could be a perfect replica of Shadow over there. Difference could be their characters. Espio wasn't keen to say snarky remarks on purpose, but it didn't mean he hadn't meant them. Plus, at times, he was clumsy, specifically when Honey entered the scene. Shadow, however was bluntly rude, never gave up his choice of battles and when he didn't like you, it actually meant he hated you.

Wave threw the comparing table away from her mind and sat purposely between Espio and Tikal, allowing the only form of verbal communication to happen with him and Honey. If he tried conversing with Tikal, she jab on the fact that he was being socially mean in ignoring the obvious person in between. She smirked at him and he stared a hundred blazing stars at her.

Amy hurriedly began conversing when she dropped herself in between Jet and Cream. If Wave admitted it, the reason she felt like pissing Espio off was because she was bound to be pushed next to Jet and that was something rather stomach-churning at the moment.

"So, this thing in History…"

Wave groaned. "Seriously, is that why you've been grinning? I thought the dentist did something to you. Phew, crisis resolved then."

Tikal, Cream and Honey laughed. Amy glared at Espio and Jet, keeping their facing neutral obviously with the mirth crinkling their lips.

"Hey, I'm just happy okay? This is a great opportunity to gain experience."

Cream stopped eating and arched a brow. "In which terms is this experience?"

"Obviously Sonic terms," Jet muttered lowly, knowingly that their voices were being carried around the halls.

Amy still shushed him and gave him a small punch. Wave watched the exchange indifferently and went back to her cooling food.

"Well, I for one am very excited about the project. I adore Africa." Tikal entered, smiling to herself as she remembered her numerous visits to the continent. "It's so full of potential."

Honey nodded, finally taking the step inside the talking. "Yeah, I've been to like two countries already and I liked them both."

"You travelled to Africa before?" Espio asked, and unbelieving look passing his face. "When?"

"Hey, it's true, ask Jet!"

Everyone eyed their friend with a look of pure disbelief. Jet waned from his meal and glared at each and every one of them. "Okay, I know I'm not the most trustworthy person here-"

"True dat," Wave muttered unconditionally and she stared back at him as he gave her a cheeky grin. Her heart sank when she saw something promising being played in his eyes and went back to her meal. Espio nudged her and she smacked his arm.

"Anyways, she's telling the truth. We travelled to Africa before, Egypt and Somalia."

Tikal gasped. "Really, I've always wanted to go to Egypt."

Amy laughed. "Please, I don't see the point in believing you Jet."

Cream nodded. "I'm sceptical myself."

Jet stared at Honey, needing back up. She shrugged. "Go ahead, break the news Jet."

Espio arched a questioning brow. "What news?"

Jet smirked. "Oh, nothing. Just that me and Honey used to date a while back. In fact, we met in Egypt, and after some womanizing, I got her and convinced her and her mother to travel to Somalia with my parents."

"Exotic love," Honey muttered, and everyone stop dead looking at both of them. "What? Don't get me wrong, I'm so over this guy." –She pointed at Jet who gave everyone a guilty face- "This bonehead here decided to do smooch-smooch with a Somali girl. Saw them, dumped sand over his head, and went crying to my mum, obviously, the woman was happy. She hated Jet."

Cream sighed. "Jet, you've got issues."

Jet laughed. "In my utmost defence, that girl was dying for me. I was just doing her a favour, besides, those lips of hers were parched too."

Wave had been eyeing him all the while since the topic of surprise came, and she was certain that Espio wasn't happy as well. "So, tell me Jet, when did you go to Somalia?"

"Four years ago, why?"

Wave darkly smiled. "I'm surprised you can remember that but forget my birthday."

"Dude, you forgot her birthday?" Honey asked and chuckled. "Sweet,"

"Hey, I gave you a gift."

"Five months after."

Jet rolled his eyes. "I gave you a gift."

"Classifying used toothpaste as a gift is criminal."

"Was it mint?" Amy piped.

Wave nodded.

Tikal turned to Jet. "Used mint toothpaste Jet? How low have you gotten sonny boy?"

"Apparently low enough to kiss the floor." Espio entered wholeheartedly at the banter. Honey laughed and Cream shook her head in amusement.

Jet, however, wasn't pleased with the turn of events. "Okay, fine, that wasn't my best highlights, but I'm gonna make it up to you this June. I promise."

Everyone at the table laughed, except Honey, who was surprised by the sentences. As little as she knew Jet, she was certain that the word 'promise' was never present in his vocabulary. Joking or not, it never was. Inwardly, she was fuming that she actually dated lover boy, but thinking better about it, she realised that this change was good for him, and since Wave was setting something between them that wasn't friendship or maybe it was vice versa, Honey was certain someone was going to come out happy in that relationship.

"Oh yeah, before the bell rings, I'd like to officially tell you guys that I and Espio are like officially boyfriend and girlfriend."

"WHAT?"

Espio shrugged. "I think you guys heard her perfectly."

"Seal the deal then." Jet called, drumming his hands over the table. "With a kiss,"

"Lip-lock!" Wave added just in case.

Honey blushed, and was about to protest or maybe run off, but Espio took her waist, pulled her closer, and softly swept his mouth over hers. She gasped after he pushed himself away from her. He…he had just placed a pea in her mouth! She spat the dreadful thing out and glared at him. "I hate peas."

"There was tongue?" Jet asked with eyes bulged. "Replay, I say replay."

Amy and Cream punched his shoulders. Wave kicked his shin and Tikal threw a pea to his forehead.

"Pervert,"

* * *

.

.

With the bell signalling after school, Amy left for soccer practice. Sure, there weren't going to be any try outs soon and all the members were last year middle scholars. It was obvious that many wanted to leave the task of being high school soccer players to being something else. Station Square High school provided various arts, but Amy was more willing to join soccer. After all, Jay was watching her.

The attendance was compulsory, Mrs Jude had told them, but many came anyways. She half expected most to drop out, but Amy should have realised soccer was a liked sport as well. So, she didn't doubt the fact that everyone would be here, but as she entered the field, she was surprised to see no one but a few males kicking soccer balls in the net.

Thinking deeper into memory, she also now realised that they were females as well and had probably ran off to the mall. She should have gone with Tikal and Wave, but decided to go against the idea. She truly needed to act up her hyper bar again. Being mellow wasn't her virtues.

Dressed in the green colour of the sport's clothes, she took her personal soccer ball and headed for the field, taking the net that wasn't being used for herself. She dribbled it, kicked it in the air, breath in the scent of grass as she picked it up and dusted the sphere, and repeated the dibbling and kicking until she felt her thighs scream. Even then, she continued until she was sure a necklace of sweat appeared. Only then would she kick the ball into the net.

Her breath was erratic and didn't console her heart, as she thunderously kicked the ball into the net, imagining a pissed Julie-Su cussing at her as she received a five lap punishment for rude behaviour. Smiling to herself, she went back to the ball again, jerked it above the ground, and air kicked it into the white nets. Repeating the motion over and over again made her knee hurt, and knowing what that could do in the long run, Amy stopped and her brain told her that she needed to sit down.

She took the grass, and laid her back into the blades, her heat beating loudly through her ears. Gazing at the clear sky, Amy wondered where the sun was. What happened to the clouds and birds? Why were the strips of white floating above when some sort of plane whisked by? Normal questions really. She needed to soothe her heart and mind, and thinking about the sky was easier. It was just there and staring.

Well, at least that was what she was looking at for a while. There was a shadow next to her, and some movement and before she sat up straight, a shoulder touched hers and she gasped, turning to face none other than Sonic Hedgehog lying on the grass. And he was next to her of all things.

She hid her squeal really well. "I'm sweaty."

"Yeah, I can tell. You work yourself out a lot huh?" He asked, staring at the sky and maybe she should have turned as well, but she liked his profile. His nose was sculptured nicely to his face like this. And she realised just how middle put were his cheek bones. A bit pudgy too. She kind of wanted to poke them.

Realising he asked a question, Amy gasped. "Sorry, umm…and yeah, I guess you could say I do that."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why work yourself out like there's no tomorrow?"

Amy just couldn't look at a plain sky when Sonic was asking her this kind of question. She was no guru, but she thought she knew the answer: Jay.

"My dog died when I was young." This was more complicated than she thought. How did she tell the tale so easily when with Shadow? She gulped. Yes, this was hard and she could feel her eyes sting at the memory. She really didn't want to tell Sonic. It just felt so bad to do so. "I…don't know."

She wanted to tell him something so he wouldn't look disappointed, but her mouth just dried and she just stopped. This feeling was the same one she felt when Jay had been laying on a dirty road with a horribly twisted leg. The blood came from nowhere and everywhere and was so much like human blood that it terrified her. She had just lost Jay in that instant and he wasn't going to come back. If she quitted soccer then maybe she wouldn't feel so bad every time, but if she did, then right now, she wouldn't be able to talk to Sonic.

Ironically, when Jay was alive, he always had the knack to make her indecisive. Really, that dumb dog.

Amy went back to staring at the sky and then she felt something warm rolling down her cheeks. She touched her face, realised they were tears and they seemed to be falling like waterfalls. How she never sobbed when she escaped this much water was surprising and rather insulting to Jay's memory.

"I should go now."

Sonic glanced at her, took sight of her eyes and pulled her back to the floor. He propped on one shoulder and Amy tried again to leave but he held her close and his hand went over her cheek. Smiling, he rubbed at them and took away the water.

Amy blushed. "Umm…thanks."

Hand still clasped to her cheek, he grinned. "No problem."

* * *

**Special Thanks to Revolve X. You're a very eager reviewer. Oh, didn't forget about the rest of you guys as well though! Love the story alerts.**

**It's been less than a month and 7 reviews isn't much, but hey. It's been less than a month!**


	11. Chapter 11

**MARCH**

* * *

**WEEK FOUR**

* * *

.

.

Mrs Jude had finally pulled out the names after forgetting she even assigned the African History project. If she was just ditsy, Wave would forgive her, but Mrs Jude was model-genic and a teacher, the combinations to someone conniving and distrustful.

But, really, why was she paired with Shadow of all people? Had some kind of god finally noticed that her bad attitude should be played with another?

And why did Tikal had to have Silver, a kind enough and morally tolerable guy? And Amy, how the hell was she able to get Sonic as a partner?

No, Mrs Jude hated her, that's all there was to it.

"But this is so unfair!" She whined, all the while aware that Sonic, Amy, Silver, Tikal and Shadow, her apparent partner, were standing behind her during lunch. Why they were there, she didn't care to snap at them to get the answer. "C'mon Mrs Jude, why can't I switch, huh?"

"Because you're the real reason I made this assignment for this grade." She quipped, painting her nails a vibrant red. The stench made Wave crinkle her nose. "You, Wave, need an attitude adjustment. Shadow's a good enough flame. It's a win-win situation."

Wave growled. "For who exactly?"

"Well-"

"Mrs Jude, I want to switch partners!"

Everyone turned to catch a glimpse of Sally, holding Jet by the elbow. Wave noted that he didn't look pleased with the yelling Sally could actually do. Amy smirked as she stood close to Sonic, and Sally balled her hands to her sides as she pushed away the angry thoughts into a calm demeanour.

"Mrs Jude. This is not what I want."

"Hey, right here." Jet commented raising a hand. "I don't want to be referred as something less than a human. I've got rights."

Mrs Jude sighed and blew on her nails casually. "So let me get this straight, you, Sally, want to switch partners?"

The girl nodded.

"Me too." Wave came in.

"Okay, you too Wave. But think about this, don't any of you think this is a good experience. You can each learn from your partners."

Sally glanced at Jet's devious smirk and Wave watched Shadow's bored expression.

"Mrs, please, no!"

"Hell no, Mrs"

Suddenly, their teacher's phone rang and she answered the call. Shortly later she was standing up. "Sorry guys, going to meet my hubby. Adios."

"Ohmigod, did she just leave me with Shadow?" Wave groaned, glaring at the empty desk. "I hate this subject."

Sally shook her head. She needed to find something positive in the situation, but how could she? Amy was standing next to her boyfriend, talking to him all happily and casually down the hall. Why wasn't he comforting her and her dilemma? Actually, why wasn't he fighting too? Didn't he want to be paired with her?

With a final glare to Amy's direction, Sally stomped away and pulled Jet along. The faster this was done, the better.

* * *

.

.

Finally, when History reached its peak, Mrs Jude decided to address the class on more details about the project. She stood in the middle of the class, the first eight pairs of kids seating around in circles as she held sheets of papers. Tapping her feet on the tiles, she counted eight and counted the pairs again, eight.

"Okay, so lovebirds-"

Wave groaned. "I hate you."

Mrs Jude smiled. "I've got eight papers each scribbled in my beautiful handwriting. Each sheet has one name from each duo and is written with the African Country you are going to do research about. Now, I don't like doing a lot of markings, so eight pages are enough. Each country should be researched and if I find anything false, you'll lose five marks. Is that clear guys?"

"Total marks?"

"Seventy." The class groaned and Mrs Jude rolled her eyes. "Hate me, love me, I don't care, its seventy. So, if I give you a paper, you keep it upside down. If I call out a name, then the specific sheet holding that name will tell the group what country they are gonna research. Oh, plus, it should be before their liberation. Anything after then, you lose twenty."

"What?"

Mrs Jude ignored the banters. "Okay, anyone with the sheet written Cream's name?"

Wave raised her hand. Mrs Jude nodded. "Okay, country?"

"Ghana,"

Cream nodded, and nudged Tails. Lucky them,

Mrs Jude scribbled down the duo and country name. "Cream and Tail's you're doing Ghana. Now, anybody with Silver's name?"

Sonic raised his hand now. "Yeah, it's Angola."

"Hear that Silver and Tikal? You're taking Angola. Okay, who's got Shadow's name?"

Espio raised his hand and Honey read out the country. "Namibia."

"Shadow and Wave, you've got Namibia."

Wave sighed and glanced at her partner. "You better make some effort." Shadow scoffed.

"Who's got Amy's name?" Mrs Jude asked, continuing.

Silver raised his hand. "Malawi."

"Okay, Malawi, I think we can do that, right?" Sonic said, of course not knowing what that country was. Amy smiled. Cute.

* * *

.

.

With books stacked hazardously on the library table, Shadow wondered just how much work he was entitled to. Eight pages, he could do half, and Wave could do the other, so why eight books? Especially books that didn't involve their assigned country but the whole continent?

He sighed and took the largest of books. _The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist. _"Why this one?"

Wave, besides another shelf about Africa, glanced back at him and the book. "It's about South Africa."

"We aren't doing that country." He said, throwing the book back in the stack. "Don't overloud me with unnecessary info."

"Learning about a nation isn't unnecessary." She muttered, taking another book to add to the four in her hands. "Who knows? Maybe you're gonna need that book one day."

"Is that an insult?"

"Take it whatever way you want. I just wanna get done and leave this partnership." Wave brought the books and finally took her seat. She pushed the same book he had towards him and he eyed it in displeasure. "What?"

"We aren't doing that country."

She rolled her eyes. "South Africa is a bordering country to Namibia. If we are lucky, which by far we aren't, we can get bits and pieces of it, hopefully."

Shadow took his time to stare at the book, and weighed it in his palms. This tome was heavy, dusty, probably not used in a while since it had been lodged in the back shelf. In a way, he was also gauging his partner's sanity. Because by the second with each book coming his way, he doubted she had much left.

"We've got internet."

"Information varies."

"Books are the same."

She clucked her tongue at him. Something most Babylonians did nowadays. "If you don't want to do the work, fine, I'll do my share and you do yours."

"Who's gonna do the cover?" He suddenly asked, not at all considering that she was trying to jot down the information.

Wave, exasperated, glanced at him. "What?"

"So you're gonna do it then."

She crinkled her face. "I'm not doing anything, but my side of the work."

Shadow decided that he should glare, because all this time, a calm deep and dark tone wasn't getting through her thick skull. "It's dumb if you think you're gonna do half of the cover page and I'm going to do the other partial."

Wave returned the glare with as much venom as he mustered. "We don't need to worry about it now. We've got till end of April."

"Which is about five weeks from now."

"And?" She was getting tired of mister cranky pants here.

"You really are lazy, aren't you?" He accused pointedly and Wave would have allowed it to pass had he not looked at her like she was some disgusting roach creeping over a counter screaming 'Squish me with your bare hands!'

"I'm lazy? Really, says the one who wants to avoid the work by talking to me."

Shadow frowned. "You're loud too. Don't you know we're in a library? So shush."

Wave slammed the book shut and it echoed. "I'm LOUD?"

"Wave Swallow, I suggest you listen to you colleague and shush." The librarian chided, glaring at her before turning around towards her desk. Wave grumbled something under her breath as she cursed the day her partner was born.

"Jerk,"

"Hush,"

* * *

.

.

"Do you think pictures would cut it?" Amy asked, leaning over Sonic's shoulder and staring intently at the computer screen. If he was obviously aware of their proximity, she didn't mind. She was always intense when doing her work and practically never minded skin touch skin.

Sonic scrolled down again, and a very beautiful landscape appeared. Wild, untamed animals running in a veld looking naturally plain but all the while beautiful.

"Really, this is spectacular."

Apparently, Sonic didn't register much of what she was saying and wondered if she was talking about their closeness. He was about to pull back, but when she pointed at something in the screen, he figured he hadn't after all, noticed something.

"What kind of tree is this?" She asked.

He watched the picture systematically. "Umm…don't know. Is it relevant to the research?"

Amy stood tall and shrugged. "I don't know. It looks unique. I want Wave to draw it and Tikal to tell me about it."

Sonic blinked at her, and she gave him a look he wasn't sure of reading into. He returned to the screen and scrolled down again. A distant part of him wanted to ask why she became friends with Wave and Tikal, girls so varied that he would never imagined a close link between them, but if he thought about himself, Shadow and Silver, it was just the same. Periodically, he also thought about how he and his allies turned out like this, and those thoughts made his heart clench and kept his mind in headaches.

"Sonic?" Amy called, he had scrolled down too much way too fast. She pushed him again, and until he finally shook his head, clearing whatever thoughts that distracted him, Amy had been close to his side. The 70% reason was because she held her crush for him and the remaining thirty had to do with what he did at the field. She owed him something, that she knew, and she was bound to give, she just didn't know when.

"Umm…sorry, got carried away in here," He bonked his head, and she let out giggle. He didn't like tension so she at least had to do that, right?

They had taken this morning to get to school super early, begged their principal to use the Computer Lab and hopefully get the reliable information they needed. There was still two hours left before the school bell rang, and the air was chilly and she could see Sonic's fingers become jittery above the keyboards.

She rubbed her arms. "Hey, do you need something to drink?"

He turned back to face her and she shifted her weight, hoping her blush wasn't what caused this long period of staring. Eventually, he blinked. "Ah, yeah, water?"

"It's cold today. You're shivering, how about coffee?"

"That's kinda of a long way from here." He stretched out.

She grinned. "Couple of minutes, I won't take long."

"You're going alone?"

Amy shrugged. "I can stay and finish some part of the research while you go if that's what you want."

Sonic maybe hadn't expected the ultimatum and was taking his time to think. Well, she wasn't a very patient person to begin with, so it wasn't uncharacteristic of her to shift her weight around on each side of her leg. But she wasn't patient. With a decision already, she took his jacket. "Sorry, but its cold outside. I don't want to catch a cold so I'm taking this, is that okay?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, just hurry up."

She curtly nodded. "Aye, Aye"

* * *

.

.

Silver had decided to wait for Tikal today outside her house's gate. He whistled at the view of the large estate that looked like it was cut from some posh, rich magazine for the wealthy. The gates themselves were enormous and probably electronic, so being a bit bored, he searched for a camera. With a keen eye, he saw the machine latched into the brick wall, looking like a decorative diamond rather than a feeding camera. Was he on air? He waved, just for the fun of it.

"_Just what do you think you're doing?"_ The voice was mocking but he already jumped. He held on to his accelerating heart beat and tried coming back. That was not Tikal's voice.

"Umm, I'm waiting for Tikal." In some part of mind of his, he realised, from a distance, he was talking to a wall.

"_You her boyfriend?"_

He shook his head. Why reply when they could see him?

"_If you're a suitor, don't you think you should have rung the bell by now? I thought that was what you guys did nowadays after the conference."_

The voice was sceptical then, and he wondered just who was this person. "I'm pretty sure I ain't a suitor…"

"_I don't see why you're here. Hey, come closer to the camera please."_

It did say please, he thought wryly as he stood straight in front of the machine again, this time, no goofy looking wave.

"_Hey you're kind of cute. You are like seven years my junior though. Call me when you hit twenty."_

Seriously, who was this person? "Ugh…"

"_Trish! What are you doing, you shouldn't be here. You scare guests away when you do!"_

Silver thought that that had to be Tikal, and he was about to call her out, but…

"_C'mon Tikal, he's super-hot. Just look at him. Wow, I'm drooling already."_

"_Who are you talking about?" _There was some movement and a loud thud. _"Trish, how did you fall?"_

"_No one can explain how someone falls in love."_

"_Aren't you engaged?"_

"_Precisely. Haven't hit the vows yet. So bleh."_

"Hey Tikal. We are going to be late at this rate."

"_Silver, is that you? Ohmigod Trish. Are you some kind of paedophile or something?"_

"_Hey, in my defence, it was his parents that made him like that. He screams bite me!"_

"_Trish! Stop it, we're on air."_

"_Hah, you're blushing."_

"_I'm not. I'm just….I'm not okay!"_

"_You've got a crush on him?"_

"_What! No way."_

"_So he isn't crush worthy then?"_

"_Of course he is."_

Silver coughed. He was the one blushing now.

Trish giggled into the receiver. "_Aw, lookie here boy. You might be in black and white, but I can see that shade of pink on those aristocratic cheeks of yours. You know, my engagement can be broken off. Why not elope with me?"_

Silver blushed. Yes, the situation was awkward. Maybe he should just leave. Before that, the gate opened, and in the distance, he could see Tikal jogging towards him. In a couple of minutes, she finally reached him and gave him a very apologetic look.

She frowned at the camera. "Trish, you need some help."

"_I'm a love sick puppy by mistake."_ She sang.

Eventually, when the time came for the humour to sink in, Silver and Tikal were at the school gates. It was her giggle that initiated it, and he did nothing but let out that soft chuckle. In the end, they both laughed heartily next to each other. The words passed earlier now mere jokes to give their friends.

Sighing as her laughing died, Tikal took to the small steps. "I'm so sorry. Trish really is too much."

He matched her pace. "No need to apologize Tikal."

With a bit of apprehension on her part, she gazed at him. "But, you know, what she said. It was…"

"Awkward?" He provided, taking time to think of another word. "Eerie? Funny?"

"All three above," She laughed, turning towards her locker. His was on the other end, but he didn't mind waiting for her. She closed it shut. "Again, sorry."

"It was funny."

Tikal arched a brow. "She's engaged."

Noticing that expression, he turned to face her with a look of mock indignation. "Hey, you think I'm that kind of guy to like someone like her?"

"What's wrong with Trish?" She asked, already knowing that Silver could punch jabs when he wasn't aware of it then.

He blinked, now realising what he had just said. "Um…sorry. I didn't mean it like that Tikal."

She slyly smirked. "Gotcha,"

"Is it April Fools?"

"Nope, but by next week, who knows who's going to do what." She told him, shrugging as she walked with him to his locker. She glanced at the classes, opened and closed. "Though, I'd be careful if I were you. Wave's got something concocting for that day. She won't go easy on you."

Silver, despite the anxiety in him, grinned. It was suspicious and rather something she wanted to pry into. Somehow, whatever joke he was going to play at Wave was far worse than what Wave was going to play.

* * *

.

.

Wave yawned, keeping her eyes shut as she felt around the table, looking for her bandana since she felt her hair cascade into long fringes. Waist long hair was her trademark, and until it reached above her knees, she wasn't going to cut her locks. She adored them.

Moving to stretch, she sighed and yawned again. She had fallen asleep in the library after coming today so early with Sonic and Amy. Shadow, whom wasn't in their apartment as Sonic told her, was nowhere to be found. Sure, she was maybe rough on the guy, but did he have to ditch his work? They were partners after all. He should be here; not doing whatever it was he was doing.

Her line of thought stopped when she realised she wasn't talking about Shadow. It was Jet coming into her mind that got her thinking. She and he were best buds. Elementary school did a lot to them and the years had brought them together. So why? Why hadn't she noticed the crush he had on her then? She wasn't dense, not that much, but Amy and Tikal won hands down in that department, but still, was she that thick not to notice his affections?

Still, that kiss ran into her mind always before she went to bed, and it had been what woke her up in the morning. The fact that Jet, her long time best friend, had kissed her didn't hide his feelings towards her. In fact, he encouraged it. That was the reason she avoided him. She didn't want to talk to him about something that he did to her. A kiss was a major thing in her books. Maybe to him no, but to her, it was a hell yes and triple yeah.

Though, she couldn't come to a decision about the torment of not being to talk to him. He was her best friend, and that spoke volumes. She loved him, not the way he wanted her to, but it was that love that made her feel the connection of trust between them. And yes, she could say she still trusted him, wanted his closeness and his remarks, but if she had to be telling the truth, she'd say she was petrified. How? It was obvious. She didn't want to think about something as intimate as a kiss being the barrier between normal conversations with him.

There was the sound of an opening door, and she turned around to face Shadow, with two cups of coffee nestled in his hands. She smiled wearily at him, forgetting that she was supposed to be mad and tear him to pieces. He watched her as he came closer, gave her drink and stood.

"You look like shit."

She swirled the cup around. "True dat,"

* * *

**Sorry for the late update. I've been busy with school lately and time passed by so fast, I realised that it had been about 7days since an update. **

**Anyways, about this chapter, not so sure how it got through without me deleting it. I think I just wanted to establish some sort of friendship between Silver-Tikal and Shadow-Wave. Sonic and Amy, yeah, I guess I could say is coming along, but I still got to pair Silver with Wave and Shadow with Tikal soon. So, if any of you who are screaming for those two couples, I'm gonna take a break from Sonic-Amy and work on them plus the friendship between Tikal-Amy-Wave.**

**Oh, before I forget. Thanks for the reviews, neh? Keep 'em comin'**

**P.S _It's gonna be a long__ chapter_**


	12. Chapter 12

**APRIL**

* * *

**WEEK ONE**

* * *

.

.

Shadow lifted himself out of bed, took the nearest thing close to him, which was his dark covered mobile phone vibrating across the nightstand. Sighing, he flipped the machine over and placed it near his ear.

"What do you want Snively?"

There was a scuffle of things on the other end of the receiver as if the frail looking male had been exerting his annoyance in files and papers. Knowing that rat, that had to be it.

"_You know very well what I want Shadow." _

The reply was laced with so much annoyance it nearly sounded like a spat. Scowling, Shadow moved out of his bed, grabbed a towel and trudged into his bathroom, closing and locking the door in case another ear would be listening. A glance in the mirror showed his messy bed hair, wrinkled knee length shorts and his exposed tanned torso. His face showed that same sneer.

"_Shadow, answer me."_

He rolled his eyes. "Stay away from me. You and that bastard you call a boss too. I don't want anything to do with any of you. Get that in that feeble head of yours and stay away."

He was growling, it was obvious he was, but he didn't care. Snively and Robotnik could go and screw themselves. He wasn't going to accept their training like a mechanical bot, being their puppy wasn't possible and logical. He wasn't a tycoon, never will be, and he wasn't willing to. They couldn't force it on him and he wasn't going to allow them to push him around.

"_You're making a grave mistake boy. You do understand what you're turning down, right? It's a great opportunity anyone would jump at."_

Shadow smirked. "Oh, I don't think you're the one who understands Snively. Firstly, I'm not making a mistake. I'm saving myself from your labours. Secondly, the fact that this is the umpteenth time I'm turning down this offer makes it rather obvious that I am not willing to be some business mongrel. And, thirdly, if you wanted the vacancy, take it, I don't want it…"

"_You're very-"_

"I'm not done yet." Shadow said, cutting him off. "You've got the skills, age, knowledge and experience to fill in that gap, right? Sad that Robotnik isn't considering you with the position so now you're playing messenger boy. You have no standards Snively, that's why you're on the lowest bar of Robotnik's right hand men."

"_Why you-" _Shadow ended the call and blocked the number again. Groaning, he threw it on the cushion of his clothes as he stepped into the shower to wash off his irritation.

* * *

.

.

As Silver and Tikal entered the parlour before school officially began, they brought their rough drafts of their project with them. The idea of them meeting at her home earlier had been accompanied by Tikal's reluctance to allow another embarrassing moment with Trish. Silver wasn't thrilled with the suggestion of his apartment. Apparently, he didn't want her to see Shadow and Sonic at their worst. Her disappointment had been there. She wanted to take a glimpse of Shadow's life, she guessed.

Sighing, they both sat into the comfy seat across each other and she ordered tea while he took a cola.

"So, are we like done?" She asked later when they had shuffled through the works, and for a while, she had been thinking that Silver wouldn't end up with much of the facts, but surprisingly, he pulled through. By tomorrow, if the draft was okay, they'd had their paper in.

With a paper in his hand and the can of cola in the other, Silver actually looked like a glance of her father while working. She hid her gaping heart well again. He glanced at her, something he father rarely did when working and she smiled at him even though he didn't know the reason was of gratefulness instead of consideration.

"Yeah, I think we are. Maybe redo the conclusion and print some pictures for reference. It's good we aren't representing this. I don't think I can pronounce these people's last name well." He told said, placing their work into his file. Seemingly, he was going to finish the whole thing without help and she wasn't going to allow that gesture.

Smiling deviously, she took the file. "So, let me just take this home and I'll bring it in tomorrow."

He coughed and took the file from her grasp really quick that she gasped. "I think I should. Don't worry, I'll keep it safe enough. Besides, I'm the one who's gonna bring it in anyway."

"Ah, but I think I should."

Silver shook his head. "It's okay Tikal."

"Well, I'm not okay with it Silver." She told him, leaning against the table with a slight frown on her lips. "Maybe we should reach a compromise. I don't want our friendship to end in a petty fight like this, okay?"

She was marginally surprised by the look of shock jolted into his eyes. She arched her brow in question. "What?"

"You…consider me a friend?" He stuttered out and before she could stop herself, she laughed at his innocence.

"Of course Silver. Did you think I was only being nice to you because we are partners? You're a very lovable guy."

He smiled and it was infectious, so she did so herself. Then, he coughed and she could see the line running on his mouth. "Well, Trish does like me."

Rolling her eyes at his words, she said, "Yeah, well, she's engaged. She's out of that line of thought. So, anyways, about the project, let's do it after school in the computer lab. I'm not good with computers but that won't be an excuse to make you do all the work, Silver."

He nodded and she ordered another drink because her tea had run cold before she realised.

* * *

.

.

Sonic thought he was treading on a thin line when he knocked on Amy's door. It wasn't that he was feeling imperilled by seeing her in her own home, okay, maybe it was that, but guys just didn't do going to girl's home with the potential of seeing parents. The fact that not many liked it was what made him feel doomed.

The door widened, and popped Amy's messy hair of pink. She smiled, a glow in her eyes- he wasn't sure about the meaning- and a soft smile when she finally opened and stepped to the side, allowing him view of the first walk he should take.

Amy giggled. "My cousin's home. He's a dude, parents out, coming tomorrow."

Sonic grinned. "How'd you know?"

"Umm maybe cause they told me,"

He shook his head as he stepped in with his school bag. "I mean, how'd you know that I wasn't going to be comfortable with parents around?"

"No one is. You aren't the first guy I brought here." She exclaimed, and off she went to her bedroom as he assumed since he saw a long glance of AMY written in pink.

Thinking back to her words, he wasn't surprised. Amy was definitely girlfriend potential. Her qualities were like icing on the cake with the little cherry on top to make it complete. Smiling, he thought about Amy as his girlfriend, but quickly took the thought out. He was committed to Sally, and he was going to be like that for a while until…well he didn't know really. Until something happens that makes them break up, he guessed.

Amy trotted down the stairs and her hair wasn't all messy anymore. Maybe she brushed at them, he thought as he followed her to the dining room. It was beige coloured, clean brownish carpet and flowers placed in the middle that she placed on the floor , knowing that it'd disruptive during their assignment.

She sighed as she touched a petal and Sonic arched a brow. "You like gardening?"

She looked up and met his gaze. "Yeah, kinda, but I'm like a newbie to it. Tikal's an apt gardener though. She's the one who brought me a bouquet when I got sick. They died a couple of days later though and she kept on sending them until I began learning to take care of them."

He smiled, looked at the arrays of daisies, violets and roses planted together in something rather pretty. It matched Amy's vibrant style and he wondered if Sal wouldn't mind getting flowers too. It'd be his first to give her since their dating.

"Okay," Amy said, clasping her hands together. "Let's begin. I think by the end of this week, we'd be done."

"Argh, Malawi, a place I wish to go to now." He sighed, sitting next to her as she took out her drafts. She was on page four, and so was he, so it only mattered on the number of pictures they'd paste on a blank sheet.

"You want to take pictures of Malawi?" She asked him, dead straight since she knew that he liked photography.

He nodded, and took out his pencil and got writing what he remembered from searching the internet yesterday night. "Yeah. The landscape looks great. It'd be a nice birthday gift."

Amy nearly squealed. Her birthday was in May, maybe he was thinking…

"Sally might even hang it in her room, I think." He said, uncertainly and she wallowed in a black hole for a while before diverting back to the topic he was driving to.

"Umm, you think Sally won't like it?"

He thinned out a smile. "She's not that thrilled about photography."

Amy frowned. "But you're works are great. Even Tikal said so. Plus, Wave, though reluctantly, liked them. Why doesn't she ardour those pictures you took?"

Sonic shook his head. Maybe he shouldn't be saying any of this. "Nah, no problem Amy-"

"Well, it is Sonic," She said, scowling now. "I mean, c'mon, those are wonderful photos. The sunset was nearly the same as Bark's at the exhibition last year and everything. The rain you pictured was great on that leaf. And I loved your editing. The shade just made me think about which season, even though I knew it was autumn, I just thought 'Hey, if it was winter it'll look like this, right?' I personally think Sally is nutty for not liking them."

He was surprised. Amy Rose just stood up to his pictures. Though she called Sally nutty, that wasn't the real point really. She appreciated his works and actually evaluated them to the very end of what she could make out of them. He couldn't help but smile and lean against her for that. She squeaked and he recoiled back into his seat, glancing at her in question.

Amy hid her blush as she pretended to flip through pages. "If you're tired you could go home okay? I didn't mean to bore you to death anyways, and-"

Sonic laughed. "Sorry, it's something reflexive I do when I feel comfortable. You didn't bore me at all."

She widened her eyes and gaped. "Really?"

"Yeah, you just kept on talking. I didn't get bored."

She flailed her hands up. "No, not that…you said you feel comfortable around me, really?"

Sonic looked at her glistening eyes and wondered just how easy it was to please this girl. He nodded and she squealed, taking him into her arms and pushing him back with her soccer strength. He even had to message his arm.

"Um, sorry, it's just that that felt like a true compliment. I don't get that much compliments." She sheepishly tried saying, holding a pen to her cheek.

Sceptical as of now, he arched a brow and she gaped. "What? You don't believe me? I'm tellin' you, I don't get that many compliments like that."

Sonic just couldn't believe that tale. She tried again, telling him that most guys said she was pretty and fine, but sometimes she was loud, but at the same time fun. But it was always her temper that sometimes spoiled the fun, and that eventually led to gossips and evidently the 'Can We Break Up' scenario steps in. It was easy to say all this stuff to him because she thought he would understand, and he did, she just knew he did. It was his trait. His comprehension just made him more enthralling as it was.

Sonic held a hand up and she stopped babbling about ketchup on bread. "Okay, I like the humour and all, but seriously Amy, let's finish with our finalising and maybe we can get the show on the road?"

She blushingly nodded and sat back down.

* * *

.

.

Shadow raked swift fingers through his hair, his face disported with irritation and so much anger he felt his teeth grind loudly against each other. The library was silent, especially with the morning still early and not many students occupied the place as he thought they would. He shook his hair again, and sighed.

"Shadow?"

With hair flung over his eyes, he could make out the feminine figure with hair clinging around her sides with white ribbons and he immediately wrenched to sit back in a taut stance. "Tikal," He greeted and she gave him a fleeting smile. It was a look he wasn't even able to read in before she sat down next to him.

"You look troubled."

He shifted a bit. The thought of telling her what his mind wanted to escape passed him in an ephemeral second of consideration before drooping into an icy level of his demeanour. His voice was purposely laced in coldness. "I'm not," he lied, and she sighed.

Opening her book, she pointed at a picture. A bright red rose painted beautifully on paper laid there. It was a great picture, and he nearly asked if she painted it. "I painted it yesterday because they remind me of someone."

He scoffed. "Amy's a good reference."

Laughing a bit, she shook her head. "No silly, it's you. Roses remind me of you."

He doubted that with every breath escaping his senses. The picture showed a bright red flower, petals woven in a pattern so complex he couldn't pinpoint a starting and ending through the different loops. The dew made it mystical, a glow of mystery sprinkled into it, and slowly, he thought he could see a sort of sunset placed near enough to give it a sort of tanned sheen.

This rose didn't refer to him. "I doubt that."

Again, she laughed and took the book again, and pushed it to his face. "It does. Really, look at it. It reminds me of your eyes the most…all mysterious but beautiful and so intriguing. And no, these aren't compliments, just pointing out the facts."

He shook his head and pushed the book back at her. She took it, closed it and placed it into her bag slowly. All the while, he studied her, trying to figure much about her that got his mind working gears. "This is the second time we've talked and you bring up a rose that looks like my eyes?" The sarcasm was obvious, and she noticed.

Tikal rolled her eyes. "You don't want to tell me what's troubling you. If you said something else, I'm sure this conversation would be driven someplace else by now."

He stared at her. "You're the one who followed me."

With widened eyes, she looked to the side, biting her lip and looking at her bare hands.

He blinked, and leaned on his palm. "You think I didn't notice?"

Turning back to give him a side long glance, she mumbled something and he noticed her apparent blush scraping her cheeks. Tikal breathed out. "I…didn't mean to. It just happened." She took a chance to stare at him and the look she gave him was weirdly concerned. "You look disturbed by something Shadow. I just wanted to know if I could help. I didn't mean to follow you."

His voice was calm and steady when he said, "of course you meant it. If you hadn't, you wouldn't be here."

She turned her head down shamefully. "Shadow…"

"Why do you even care?" He snappily asked now, taking another stance to sit differently. "I'm not a concern of yours."

"I-"

"We're not friends either. You've got no true reason to care about what I think and what I don't. I'm just trying to say that this is nothing you should be digging into." He told her chidingly, and stood from his seat. "Stay out of my way Tikal. I don't need someone to care about me."

She wasn't going to allow him to leave like that.

His face was placed with emotions that would have proved impossible for a person such as himself. She never anticipated seeing him with that much anguish filling his features so perfectly it looked like they were adapted to that emotion. Distantly, she had thought about how his indifference had come about and if it was linked to what she thought might be giving him that snappy attitude.

The librarian was gone for a while, leaving her to yell after him. He didn't stop, so she ran and nearly had her heart evacuate from her chest when Shadow wisped around with a very deadly gleam in his eyes.

She gulped down the fright. "Shadow, you can't keep your feelings bottled up you know."

"I can. I'm very capable of a lot of things Tikal." He grouched icily, moving a bit, as if ready to sprint away if she pushed the wrong button.

She avoided that much of his chaos. "I'm not requesting anything from you but you talking about them. Maybe not with me, but you've got Sonic and Silver Shadow. Aren't they your friends?"

He glared at her and she immediately thought of how stupid her words sounded now. Shadow stalked towards her, and she tried and thankfully won with mustering her courage to keep from taking steps behind.

"Tikal, since when have all friendships been rainbow and unicorns?" He mocked, a smirk dancing on his lips, a complete change to his ire. "Life isn't a Tikal-Wave-Amy movie. Not everything is that perfect."

He was giving her a life lesson she already knew but chose to never believe it. She shook her head and tried to string words again that didn't divert everything from what she was concerned about. "Shadow, you're a human being-"

"I can very much see that." He added angrily.

"But, you've got realise it."

He looked at her, and it wasn't filled with anger, irritation or even a brief graveness. He was shocked- another emotion to add to her list.

She bit her cheeks as she waited for him to say something. If it were mean, she'd know that he wasn't alright, that he needed someone to talk to lessen his load. And if he said something that made her more shocked than he was, she didn't know if she'd react a way she thought she'd normally do.

Either way, she wanted to let Shadow know that his world if filled with people who care about him. Maybe he didn't consider her as those people, but she cared of his wellbeing enough to make her feel embarrassed by her excessive probing.

Tikal waited for his reply, and only got a blank stare. Or at least, it was until she saw his lips turn upright and giving off a smile. Well, he hadn't said anything to give her shock, but she was surprised by his sudden face improvement. Shadow smiled at her –technically her words- and didn't look like he was convincing her that he was alright.

She stood still as he left.

* * *

.

.

It took a while for her to pick up the mess of clothes she had thrown over her carpet during the morning before school. Her shirts lay in a messy pile with her dirty socks and she could see her denim skirt flipped over, showing that awful ketchup stain from two years ago. The pinkish jersey Amy had given her lay wrinkled on her bed with her white, black, purple, green and orange bandanas and her duvets crinkled up around her pillows.

The cypress chair she had used countlessly to sit on during late night reading and drawing was under a throng of dirty pants and tank tops. Underwear popped up someplace else, she just didn't remember were and how. She could make out an outline of frames under the piles of clothing but Wave didn't mind that, she needed to reorganise this room again.

If Shadow found out that she lost their project in her own bedroom, he'd throttle her.

Ducking low, she scavenged her hand beneath her bed. Bits of dust scraped it and she cussed, taking her dusty hand from beneath the bed as if it had been burnt. She glared at her dirty bed in distaste.

She jumped when her phone vibrated against her pocket.

"Sonic?"

"_No fool, it's Shadow."_

She arched her brow at his ire. "So, did the Tooth fairy forget to give you a quarter or did your anger come from something else?"

She heard him growl and she giggled. _"My phone's gone, and I'm using Sonic's."_

"Okay, so what do you want then? I'm-"Looking around her once organised room, she bit her cheeks. "I'm busy."

"_I took the assignment and handed it in today."_

"Wha-what!" She growled, standing up and glaring at everything in her room. "Are you seriously saying that I spent the last hour of my day treating my room as a scrap yard?"

"_You did what?"_

Sighing, she flopped on her dirty bed. "Never mind. Anyways, you don't strike me as the kind to lose things."

"_I didn't lose it."_ He growled and she could practically smell his annoyance. "_Your addled friend pick-pocketed it."_

Wave smirked. She knew Tikal could pick-pocket, it was something she taught her and Amy once during a camping trip. But while she and Amy were aware that the crime was in fact a crime, Tikal did it without conscience, sometime picking things by mistake. If she was engrossed in thoughts, you'd be surprised by the number of items you'd find in her school bag.

"So, what'd you do to piss Tikal off?" She asked, twisting the truth around a bit. Tikal didn't get pissed with people like Shadow, at least not yet.

"_That's none of your business."_

"So you said that to her?" Wave asked, throwing her dirty pile of clothes into the laundry bin after placing him on loud speaker. "You do know she's just worried Shadow?"

"_What?"_

"I said she's worried."

He sighed. "_Emphasize."_

A sock got thrown into the bin as well. "Tikal's the worrying type. No matter how many times you refused help, she won't back down until she sees progress in your facial features. She must have figured what's your usual facial expression and if you look troubled today then it's obvious she'll be worried."

"_Why does she care?"_

"Because your Amy's friend. It's a dumb reason I can't even consider, but I can relate to her." Wave told him, smiling serenely as she flumped on her bed. "If you don't want her to keep probing, talk to her."

"_I'm hanging up now."_

"Fine, but you've still got to get your phone."

"_How'd she learn to pick-pocket Wave?"_

The accusing voice made her laugh. "I think you already know. Careful though, Amy knows as well."

He sighed, and without a goodbye, he hung up. She slowly looked around her room, glanced at her time and figured she had three hours to spend being idle. Shrugging, she jumped out of bed, took her jacket and board before jolting out her room and down the steps, calling Silver because she needed to talk to him again.

* * *

.

.

His silver board didn't glisten in the sun. Not like he thought it would and maybe that's why he liked it. The blue linings were polished looking, with the gleam of newness showing and he couldn't help but feel futuristic with it in his arms. He smiled, and examined it more closely as he sat on the park's bench, ignoring the rushing fountain with no care, waiting for Wave.

The sky was growing a shade of darkness by the minute, and he briefly wondered why Wave had called him out. There wasn't going to be a race today. They wouldn't be able to see the floor, but he suspected that if Wave called on him, then she either wanted something from him, or _needed_ something.

Sure, he was glad that they were getting along. He never expected the sassy girl to let him give her advice about her love life. They weren't good friends, not enough for sharing secrets and nothing more to give the impression of friendship either. But the latter changed after her confession towards Jet's feelings.

He frowned. If he thought about it now, he could still remember the time in cafeteria. Wave's cluster of friends talked rather loudly and his mind had been possessed to catch the glimpse of Wave and Jet talking, with her looking nervous and him looking pleased and jumpy. He wasn't that much troubled by it, but he just thought there was a rift in between them.

Someone touched his shoulder and he jumped.

Wave snickered and stood next to him, her board on the floor as she zipped up her jacket. She played with the hem briefly. "So, how's it?"

He sighed. "I should be the one asking that. You did call me, right?"

An eye roll from her made him retract a bit. "Look, I just want to talk to you. That's all."

"About Jet then?"

She crunched her facial features in annoyance. "Does every conversation I have with you has to be about Jet?"

Silver smiled and sat on the bench. "We didn't talk a lot lately, have we?"

She did the same, conceding with what he said by nodding. There was a moment of comfortable silence between them, and she relished it with a vacant mind. This wasn't the time to think about her love life no matter how crappy it was getting, she wanted to leave it someplace else.

"So, random question, do you have a girlfriend?" Wave asked, turning towards Silver. His face showed surprise from the outburst, and then slowly took hold of something she wasn't sure but looked to be annoyance mixed with curiosity. She related to the latter wholeheartedly. "I'm just wondering. You don't have to tell me, okay?"

"What about you then?" Silver asked with a voice nastier than she thought he should have put it. "Don't you have a boyfriend?"

Narrowing her eyes, she thinned out her scowl. "I asked first. But no, I don't have one. Now answer my question already."

"You said I don't have to tell you." He accused and she growled.

"That was then, this is now."

"I'm not gonna tell you."

She gaped. "Why not? I answered your question truthfully."

Silver stared at her blankly, and she kind of felt deprived of something when he kept silent. Immediately, she thought of Jet, his kiss, his words and everything she missed about him, and if she lost Silver, a guy she was opening up too so slowly to but progressively with good results, she didn't know whom she'd be left with besides Amy and Tikal. Some advice needed a male's point of view.

She forced a smile and Silver's slowly came back. "You know what, forget about it. Let's not dig in it, kay?"

He nodded, even though a bit solemnly. There was another silence but it wasn't that thick.

"So, how are you Wave?"

She arched a brow. "Um...fine…I guess" She replied awkwardly, and he actually rolled his eyes at her. "What?"

"I meant with you and Shadow."

"How was I supposed to know that?"

He sighed. "So, how are things? You're partners."

She shrugged and plucked a lock of purple behind her ear. "It's been better, I guess. He's a jerk though. We got in a lot of squabbles and I think he's growing to like me, well, in a Shadow kind of way. You know what I mean, right?"

Silver smiled and nodded. "Well, continue."

She laughed. "With what? That's all I got. He isn't the kind to throw his feelings on a platter. You should know that. You live together, right?"

"Yeah, but I just wanted to know how people saw him actually."

She smiled and bumped his shoulder with hers. "I'm not considering dating him, if that's what you're heading to."

Silver shook his head. "What? I never even considered it in a millisecond Wave. You're insane."

"Takes one to know one."

"I'm not insane."

"Have you looked at your hair?" She asked him jokingly. "Seriously, you're like a mini version of Einstein."

This time, he elbowed her and she giggled melodically happy. Her laugh was infectious and he couldn't help but marvel at it.

"Wave, you're a great girl, you know."

She stopped laughing and held a sort of questioning look in her eye. "Okay, explain what's so great about me?"

"You're friendly. Know a lot about things that seem irrelevant and very smart. Plus, you're funny and I like your attitude." He told her, listing them off with his fingers. Even though they weren't a lot, she appreciated that he took the time to evaluate her this closely.

She then haughtily said, "Well, I am that incredible." Silver scoffed.

"Okay, I take that back."

Suddenly, she shuddered, and Silver noted the sky had grown darker than he thought. He saw Wave quiver again and he stood up. "C'mon, let me take you home."

Wave arched a brow. "No way in hell. I'm not some sissy that can't get home."

"I didn't mean it like that Wave." Silver said kindly. "Do you always have to start debates with everyone?"

She shot up and entered his space. Poking his chest, she glared at him. "I do not start debates with everyone Silvs."

He raised his eyebrows pryingly. Wave wasn't tall, not at least tall as he was. She stood a few centimetres below his mouth, so she was directly line with his chin. So, whatever intimidating pose she was aiming at, he laughed at it.

Ruffling her hair, he took her board in his hands and began walking to her neighbourhood.

Wave caught up to him and punched his shoulder playfully. "Dude, never touch the hair."

Silver chuckled, did it again and received her playful nudges yet again all the while carrying his and her board in his left arm.

* * *

.

.

"Give it back." Shadow all but growled at her as she turned the corner towards school. The morning sun was light and refreshing, signalling a close winter soon. But despite the rejuvenating weather, he preferred his cell phone with him and not with Tikal.

Startled by his voice, she instantly backed up and held a hand to her heart. "You-You scared me. Couldn't a simple 'hey, you've got my phone, right?' be more appropriate?"

He looked at her, and she faintly thought he labelled her as an Amy clone. Sighing, Tikal took out his phone from her pocket and placed it into his extended hand. He flipped through it and she knew what he saw before he even asked.

"Yes, your phone rang. A lot actually. I put it on silent and didn't reply to messages. So no, I know nothing about your secrets if that's what you're thinking about." She told him and tried matching his pace when he began moving towards the school. "Umm, can you, I don't know, slow down?"

"If I did that then the point of trying to leave you behind would be meaningless." He stated so bluntly, she thought it wasn't an insult. Normally, a punch on the shoulder would be applicable in the situation, but what if he decided to crack her arm? She didn't know him as well as she wanted to. Perhaps he wouldn't react the same way as others did to the gesture.

Instead, she tried matching his pace again. "So, how are you?"

"You shouldn't care."

She smiled. "But I do. I care. So, again, how are you?"

Shadow sighed, stopping to lean against a wall and in that instant; Tikal thought she saw his walls fall around him. The minute his eyes opened though, the former thought was largely corrected. Shadow was back to his normal impassive self while she had the role of concerned, questioning so-called acquaintance.

He studied something about her as she filled out the silence by humming.

"You aren't going to give up, are you?"

She shook her head no. "Not until I know you're okay."

"Did you ever consider that everyone has problems they'd rather keep silent?"

Tikal frowned, wondering where this conversation was heading to. "Everyone wishes to tell someone about their problems."

He shook his head. "Does this someone have to be you?"

"Um, no-"

"Then I don't understand the point of this conversation." He cut through her block of sturdiness with that, and she felt rather flustered by her inability to retort back with something. He left her perplexed and didn't save her dignity by saying "So, what do you have to say? Are we just going to stand here?"

How she resisted the urge to call him rude and to sprint of oozing with anger and so much irritation. She bit her lip and forced a smile towards him, but she was sure her eyes understood where he was coming from. She just didn't want him to notice that he got to her stronger than he thought, but she understood him at least.

"Fine, I understand." She told him slowly and conventionally. "But I won't stop here Shadow. I don't give up."

She practically beamed when he glared at her.

* * *

**Yeah, done with the longest chapter. Sorry, I should have updated sooner, but I was so engrossed in a Merlin fic that it slipped my mind. He-He-He. This site is addictive. **

**Plus, I'm totally happy that I was able to establish a Shadikal part. Silver and Wave, well, they had to talk again, right? Luckily, I didn't drop Amy and Sonic like a said I would (if you read the block letters from last chapter) and instead put him in her house. I don't have a plan for any of these guys except Silver and Wave, so I'm just going with the flow when I write about Sonamy and Shadikal. Hopefully, I'll soon try adding other SEGA characters from Sonic the Hedgehog. **

_**P.S**_

_**Okay, something to say to reviewer.**_

_**-shadamy RULES: I frankly don't like Shadow-Amy fics. In fact, I fully avoid that couple. I'm not saying that I totally hate them, I just don't see myself writing about them. Tikal's the only girl I totally want Shadow to be with despite them never meeting, but isn't fanfic used to make the impossible possible?**_

_**Anyways, sorry. **_


	13. Chapter 13

**APRIL**

* * *

**WEEK TWO**

* * *

**.**

**.**

"I'm telling you," Wave began, her mouth growing into a sneer. She held up a steel whisk to her eye, glaring at it. "This thing has something against me!"

Amy scoffed, looking across the table which was messed up with flour and bits of dough. She had anticipated the grime, but not really this much. The counter was laced with flour, almost a sheer colour of white. Creamy looking dough was stuck everywhere that had a bowl, milk and water. What was most prominent however, was Wave.

With her hands fumbling to get the stickiness off the spoon, Wave had failed to notice that her upper arm was doused in white crumbs of sprinkle. Though her hair was saved from the whiteness since she had tied it into a messy clump of a purple ponytail, Amy couldn't help but gape at how horrible Wave was in the kitchen.

"Use more flour Wave. It prevents the yeast from sticking on your skin." Amy said blandly but she was smirking, wondering how she'd use this as a method of payback. She had heard from Storm that Wave knew nothing about the kitchen besides the fridge and sink. Though, she had thought he was playing with her and had only set aside it because it was coming from Storm, the most obtuse guy she had ever met.

...thinking about Storm..."Hey, how's Jet?"

Wave visibly tensed at the mention of her 'best friend'. She turned to the side, albeit slowly and looked at Amy with hidden aggression. "What about him?"

Amy shrugged, ceasing to believe that Wave wasn't lashing out on her 'what the hells'. "You know, how is he? What's he up to lately? Has he contacted you...?"

"What? Since the kiss?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah, since the kiss." It was then she cocked her head. "Are you avoiding him?"

Wave crossed her arms, indignant at most. "He's the one who's doing the avoiding. I haven't seen him trying to land any moves on me so I think he grew bored."

"But Wave, Jet would never-"

"Oh yes he would. He's my best friend. When he gives up on something, he truly gives up." Wave said, dismissing any further questioning from Amy with a slight flick of her hand.

If she had wanted to say the truth, she would have told Amy that she felt lonely without Jet. She would have also mentioned that she wanted Jet back as his normal, self-absorbed self. Without the idea of him kissing her, Wave would have encouraged their friendship to a greater level that wasn't now. She knew Jet wasn't punctual, but she needed to be understood. She didn't want a boyfriend now.

And the fact that she couldn't tell Jet off like that was irritating. If she was able to nag him about forgetting her birthday or him walking around with wet hair, then what was the difference between him and any other guy she could nag on about? She didn't want to pinpoint the fact of Jet being her best friend since it was the obvious excuse. But, looking at the bigger picture, she would have pushed him away, disregarding the relationship she had with him. So, if one hand of hers was occupied with what she should do, then did that mean the other had how?

She wriggled her mouth at her mind's thinking. Admitting that this was a big bummer would be okay, but she needed someone to be here and tell her at least where she should go. She needed someone who was able to understand the situation; who was able to direct her on the right path because honestly, being lost just because someone close to you kissed you was rather stupidly perplexing.

* * *

.

.

To be perfectly honest, Tikal had the slightest inkling that someone was watching her.

It wasn't paranoia, but with the feeling of a tense air and sometimes passing shadows, she shouldn't be shunned if she was diagnosed with it. Nevertheless, the real idea was that she only _felt_ it. Her eyes never perceived anything of sorts that would hold the story to be on the right track, but her gut told her that she shouldn't be walking around aimlessly by dusk any more. Thing is, she never was the kind to listen to her gut when faced with fear. But then again, what was this fear anyways?

Dusting off the thought to the recess of her mind, Tikal began adjusting her hair into a ponytail. She was early at school, readying herself to try out for the school's swim team so it came to no surprise that only a few of the students trying out were here as well.

Most had come with tights and their own swimsuits, and while yes, she had brought her one piece as well, she had decided to wear it below her clothing which consisted of a loosely fitting short and a baggy shirt that could never hang on two shoulders but one. The necklace Amy had given her for her late birthday was in her shoulder bag as well as her phone, which was ringing the minute she was finished with her stretching.

Bending low to pick it up, Tikal assumed it had to be Amy or Wave, but was fairly surprised to see that it was Sonic calling her instead. Her mind marvelled on how he got her number...or had she given it to him before? Well, she couldn't truly remember, not that she minded anyways.

"Morning Sonic," she greeted, sitting on the benches as she twiddled with a lock of her coppery hair. "I didn't expect a call from you."

She heard him chuckle and she couldn't help but smile. _"Well, yeah, I also didn't expect to call you either. Anyways, I wanted to ask, when are the try outs happening? I kind of forgot and Silver and Shadow keep pestering me to find out."_

"Oh, well I'm not sure about the rest, but the swim team's try outs are happening today. But I think that anything that involves being outside is also happening today. I saw the basketball coach discussing with the soccer team's one so I think they are preparing today as well."

"_Ah, okay...wait, swim team? There's a girls' swim team at our school? And you want to try out?"_

Somehow, Tikal could pinpoint on his worry and fear. It wasn't that she was good sleuth, but she could relate to his emotions. "Sonic, are you, by chance, afraid of water or probably can't swim?"

There was a deafening silence and Tikal would have thought that he hanged up but she could hear his breathing very well. _"Hah, so you figured it out?"_

"Well it's not hard to miss. Most of the hedgehogs of Mobius are unable to do so, but it's mostly overlooked by many. I just had the time to go through some of the evolutionary books in the library." Tikal stated logically, but had tried to hide the fact that she was going into 'nerd mode' and needed to stop. Not that she minded it, but at times she could really find herself irritated by the amount of random knowledge in her head.

"_Ah well, guess that's true. Since Shadow can't swim as well and so can't Silver, but I just hate the water so you don't see me at a beach a lot."_ Sonic said, and chuckled a bit. _"You know, funny thing about Shadow is-"_ There was a loud bonk on the line, and Tikal instantly thought that Sonic might had bumped himself into something and was unconscious and bleeding out. No, it wasn't paranoia; it was just a rational fear of losing a friend.

"Sonic? You there?"

"_Damn you Shadow. Why'd you have to throw a half full soda can at my head?" _Sonic asked, obviously vexed by what Shadow had done.

"_You've got no right to tell anyone about that." _

Suddenly, there was another sound and something crashed. Tikal arched a brow and was about to ask if anyone was okay.

"_Listen, girl,"_

She found herself frowning. "I do have a name Shadow."

"_When you drown, I'd be sure to remember." _She gaped at that. "_Now, despite that, you better make sure your assumptions are correct."_

Not that she was thinking about it, but just how many times did Shadow's words change her facial expressions constantly? If she was already arching a brow at his previous statement. "Is that a threat, Shadow?"

"_Maybe, but I'm asking you, isn't that right?" _He said, in a bitterly sweet way that sounded purely mocking.

"Didn't sound like a request to me. Much like an order," She said humourlessly as she rummaged through her bag for her hoodie.

"Tikal, we are about to start. Better get prepared now." Their swimming coach said as she waved her dashboard in the air.

"I'm coming coach." Tikal yelled back, then she smiled in amusement. "Oh Shadow, will you look at that, I'm tied up right now. I guess I can't confirm."

"_Whatever,"_

"Are you still bitter about last time?" She suddenly asked, but she was curious. She didn't assume he'd keep this conversation running even though he gravely wanted to disconnect. "If you are, then isn't it better to just bury the hatchet and have us start anew?"

"_I'd rather go to hell and die in its searing pit of misfortune._" With that, he hung up and Tikal could only shake her head at her failed attempt.

"Bury the hatchet and have us start anew? Great thinking, Tikal." She chided herself and her words. She should have just mentioned that she was sorry and wouldn't pester him, but he just made her competitive that she could never stop her mouth from running wild around him.

Standing up now, she took off her shirt and came trotting towards the group of participants.

* * *

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.

Amy crossed her arms in anger and gave her annoyed pout as she sat across Cream and Wave in the sports field. The bleachers were warm but she still felt herself shiver. Maybe it was from the anger.

"What now?" Wave asked, glancing at the rosette in question. "Did something happen?"

"Oh yeah, something did." She rolled her eyes and glared at the soccer team that was filled with males. "I just found out I couldn't join four extracurricular acts. Sure, soccer was in since the team needed someone that wasn't as loud as Julie-Sue and I also took tennis but when I tried for B-Ball and Volleyball they said I couldn't join more than two. And that is so unfair."

Cream sighed, but otherwise said nothing to voice her inner thoughts on the matter. Amy really was a bright girl but education wise, not so much. It didn't come to a surprise the news Amy whined about today.

"But isn't this good then?" Wave piped in, sipping her coke. "This way you've got time to concentrate on your studies."

"But-"

"Amy, Wave's right. You aren't the best academic candidate. Your highest grade is B, and you rarely keep it up."

"Okay, so I'm average." She sulked yet again. "Sue me,"

"No one's gonna sue you. The coaches just want what's best for you." Cream consoled smoothly as she watched the boys lining up for try-outs. "Huh? Is that Sonic?"

Amy narrowed her eyes towards the field and so did Wave. Though, the rosette was eager enough to lean over, she knew that by his blue, spiky hair, it had to be Sonic. "Wait, he's joining the soccer team? Really?"

"Kinda hard not to see that," Wave muttered, though no one made comment of it. "Wonder what got him to join."

"Who knows...hey, don't you think it's odd that no one knows much about them despite them coming this year?" Cream asked, inspecting the field again just in case another surprise popped up.

"Yeah, I guess." Amy murmured but her mind was concentrating on her crush's stance. He seemed eager to begin, as if his bones rattled to just kick the ball. That feeling of thrill wasn't satisfying, especially when you made the cut. She understood that all too well from experience.

The whistle was blown and immediately, they all began running around, in already coordinated teams as Amy had assumed. Red and Green zapped around, and even though she saw Knuckles in the midst of that chaos, Amy couldn't avert her eyes from Sonic's green shirt. Knowing that it complimented his eyes just made her feel more flustered than before.

Sonic was fast, and maybe it was coincidence that his name suggested just that. But that didn't matter now. All she saw was him speeding away from the reds, with the soccer ball skilfully within his grasp and his teammates following, urging him to pass or just score. What made it even more interesting was Knuckles obvious rivalry in it. Him in the red shirt just made the game more enticing to watch.

"Hah, made it."

"Tikal?" Wave asked, watching as their almost redhead jogged to the seat while carrying a large shoulder bag and having wet still drying hair. Tikal took her seat next to a very transfixed Amy and only nudged her before greeting Cream and Wave.

"I heard he was here. Wanted to check it out." She answered their questioning gazes as she also decided to let her eyes wander on the field. When Sonic scored a goal, lots of people cheered and Amy gasped in relief.

"How about swim team?" Cream inquired.

"Oh that. They're going to announce that later."

Sonic scored again, though he had to let himself fall in the grass to allow a teammate to get the ball before passing it back to him.

"Ohmigosh, did you see that?" Amy squealed, jumping up and clapping her hands. "He's so good at it. I didn't even know that."

"Not to mention fast..." Wave said and Tikal assumed she wanted to voice it as bitter but instead it came out amazed.

"Well, Mobian hedgehogs are known for their speeds. I would have thought Knuckles would feel tired, but since he's Echidna, their stamina is higher than most of the Mobians." Tikal said, placing up yet again her knowledge about Mobian heritage. Not that she wanted to be vain or anything, but she much preferred being Echidna than Hedgehog. Speed just wasn't her ideal virtue.

"Though, kinda obvious he made the cut. So did Knuckles of course, but no one usually cares about the goalie." Wave said, and when she noticed that Knuckles was a close relative to Tikal, she added. "No offence Tikal."

"None taken,"

"Oh, but if Sonic's trying out for soccer, I wonder what Silver and Shadow are participating in." Amy wondered out loud, retracting back into sitting down with her friends. "Maybe one of them is joining the swim team."

"Nope, not likely at all." Tikal said quickly, giggling as she remembered what had transpired before.

* * *

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.

"Shadow, I understand your anger, but...you just have to do this." Mrs Vanilla said in her sweet toned voice as she sat across from the dark boy who seemed to enjoy glaring way too much to be healthy. Though, she was the one consuming five cups of coffee a day so she shouldn't be one to judge.

Nonetheless, she needed to get her point across. "I know that you haven't caused any trouble yet..."

Shadow narrowed his eyes at her, though he couldn't help the noise that came when he grinded his teeth. "With all due respect miss, but you're talking as if I'm a potential troublemaker."

Mrs Vanilla sipped her coffee, smiling fondly at the young lad at her front desk. "Nonsense, I'm just visualising what people see in you."

"In me?"

"Hmm, oh yes. In you. Your character is a very complex one that leaves many baffled. I've got to admit though, it also left me worried, on your behalf that is." She said, as if politely speaking to him would divert any sort of range within him. Not that it did, but at least distaste turned into distrust.

"I don't follow, Mrs." Shadow said in a very disapproving frown that hid most of his misunderstanding. Being called here when he reached the gate had left him curios. Not to mention the reason behind it which Mrs Vanilla was purposely hiding to agonise him further just annoyed him.

Somehow, he couldn't believe this woman was Cream's mother.

"Well, it's very simple really. You see, due to spreading rumours, the students believe that you aren't...how do I say this...excelling in their social standards..."

Shadow narrowed his eyes, a flick of anger spreading in them as his mouth formed a tight line of hate. "You mean they don't like how I react to them."

"Exactly. Horrible, I know, but that's how people are. Once they see a potential threat, they tend to shun it away." She said, frowning too as she shook her head. "But don't worry Shadow, I'm on your side on this. But since the some of the student body aren't, I've got to make them think I'm not on your side as well."

He still wasn't following through, she could see that. Sighing, she took another mouthful of her coffee. "I want to help you through this year but I don't want people to assume that. My good intentions for you must be hidden with my tasks."

"But isn't this just odd?" He asked, eyebrow twitching at his luck. Not even half a year passed before people began running their annoying mouths.

"Well, yes, but it is reality." She didn't want to smile at that logical statement. It sort of disgusted her. "So, I'm sorry to trouble you with this. But I want to ensure your wellbeing at this school."

"Despite the crap the others are bound to give me?" He rhetorically asked in aggravation.

"Yes, despite that."

He shrugged, gazing at his knees. "Whatever,"

"Shadow, you do realise that your stats are rather...odd, right?"

He glanced at her and smirked. "Now isn't that reality?"

She frowned, dropping her empty mug in the bin by mistake. "I'm being serious Shadow. Your doctor told me that even though you're a Mobian Hedgehog, the normal traits of them in you are rather intense." And so were Sonic's and Silver's, the very two boys that came with Shadow.

"Can we not talk about that? You said you wanted to support my wellbeing, and probing into my life isn't making me any happier."

Vanilla nodded, albeit reluctantly. "I guess that was out of line. Forgive and forget?"

Shadow looked at his knees again. "Yeah, sure,"

"So, what are you going to join?"

He looked up, crooking a brow. "As in extracurricular activities, right?"

She nodded, smiling kindly as she rested her chin on her hand. "Do tell,"

Shrugging, he concentrated on his knees once again. "B-Ball-"

"That's basketball, right?"

"Yeah,"

"Is that all?"

"Yeah,"

In the short time she met Shadow, Vanilla realised he just wasn't meant to be a social butterfly.

He fit to be a social larva.

* * *

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**Sorry for not updating this any sooner, but my exams had me stuck. I'm a perfectionist in school so it kind of took it's toll on my sleep. But I guess another factor had to be with my writer's block. I couldn't struck up any idea for a very long time so I just dropped the story but after getting a head full of new ideas, I just couldn't stop. **

**Oh, something about this story has to be the occasional using of Tikal's general knowledge on Mobians. When I typed 'Sonic Hedgehog' it just meant that they aren't animals since I left out 'the'. Hedgehog or Echidna or Swallow are just their Mobian breed name. None have got surnames with the only exception being Amy (Amy Rose). But she's a hedgehog, so she generally fits in their category. **

**So, technically, I'm just judging how they are supposed to behave. With Sonic and his hydrophobia, I made most Hedgehogs unable to swim. And since Knuckles was a POWER character in Sonic Riders, I made Echidna's have the highest of stamina. As the story progresses, I'll shed light on the rest that come up if it's necessary. **

**Oh, sorry for not updating this in a while. I've got to live life, right?**


	14. Chapter 14

**_Shock of my life. There was a freagin' snake in my house. My nine year old cousin stepped on it in the dark and she made me wake up my mom to kill it. It wasn't that large, but it was a snake for Pete's Sake. I was so paranoid that I decided to burn it n bury it. I really hat those creatures._**

**_._**

**_.  
_Update!**

* * *

**APRIL**

* * *

**WEEK THREE**

* * *

Stretching her left arm in the air, Tikal settled her cell phone on her shoulder, sandwiching it with her cheek. "You think you can have it ready by the end of next week?" She nodded, moving out her bed slowly and taking the phone in her hand so she could stretch her other arm. "Really, that's great. I really appreciate your time."

She then walked to her closet, opening it so she could look for an outfit for school. She scratched her ear as she bobbed her head at what the other end said. "No, I think we're going to be more than five...is it okay to just have as many rooms prepared? You can do that, right?"

A pastel orange blouse and denim capris caught her sight. She smiled when the answer was positive just before eyeing the blouse with an appreciative gleam. "Great, thanks again. You're an angel Mike, thanks." Hanging up, she then threw her phone on the bed before turning her attention back to her closet.

Trish popped her head in her room, looking around for the young lady. "So, is it a plan?"

"Yeah, officially in two weeks' time, a group of my friends and I are going to spend a vacation at the lake house for a month." Tikal chirped, grinning like a true maniac. She giggled as she put on her blouse and when Trish clapped her hands.

"But how'd you get Mike on your side?"

"Easy, bribed him into coming here for the month with you,"

Trish blanched instantly. "You can't be serious. I'm engaged." She held up her finger just to clarify that. "I'm already busy planning my wedding; I don't have time to babysit my high school crush!"

Tikal shook her shoulders. "Then ask your fiancé to come and stay the month here then."

"Tikal, as much as I adore the idea wouldn't that be awkward? I mean no one's going to supervise us."

She then slipped into her capris and placed her feet in her pumps. "Well," she began, shrugging her jacket on. "I think you guys are responsible adults. Besides, I trust you three to actually have this house in tip top shape. It's not like I'm entrusting everything on you guys."

"Ah, you kind of are. The pool, the dining room, kitchen, study, and that mini library and bar...I could go on forever."

Tikal rolled her eyes before walking up to Trish and holding her shoulders. "Trish, I trust you, that's all there is to it. Don't worry about it. Now I've got to leave for school. I'm sure Amy and Wave are dying to know what I'm up to."

* * *

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.

It was in Biology that Sonic felt like he should ignore the teacher. Not that he would be missing much. If he needed to know anything about the human stomach, he'd look it up on Google or probably just use Sally's notes since she was vigorously jotting what their mentor was talking about.

He subtly leaned on the window pane, swiping a look over the expanse of the sports field in the near distance. Despite the regular quiet area, Sonic didn't expect anyone on the soccer field. In fact, he didn't even know anyone would be out while classes were in.

Boy, he thought wrong.

He stretched his eyes further, squinting as he noted the pink belonged to none other than Amy Rose. Her obnoxious hair colour could be spotted anywhere it seems. He recalled the last time he had seen her on the field and that had been a long time before. He wondered what she was up to. It'd be lunch in like probably ten more minutes.

Narrowing his eyes again, he saw her kick a soccer ball in the air. It reached higher above her head, which she then met with it, allowing it to bounce atop her head before it bobbed on her knees. Left, right, left, right; she continuously did it until she finally vaulted it into the white soccer nets.

He smiled as she leaped in the air before running towards the ball in the net. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was envisioning Julie-Sue as the goalie. Though, despite that, he began questioning if she was really as good as the people say she is. Could she possibly beat him? He didn't think so, but that was the problem. He needed to make sure she couldn't. He didn't need a maybe in his skills.

Amy Rose was a soccer queen. That said a lot about her. She was spontaneous and bouncy. When he met her, she was a frivolous girly girl, but he'd never seen her being anything but a tomboy. It was something in her demeanour he wanted to challenge and that included her taken pride in her soccer skills.

He leaned into his palm, muffling a chuckle as she ungraciously sat on the grass, throwing the ball in the air.

He really wanted to challenge this girl.

* * *

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.

Wave suckled her straw, drawing as much juice as she could get from the small carton. She sipped on the remains and practically launched the box in the air before hitting and accurately launching it in the trash bin on her left. She leaned in her palm and stared at her apple blandly.

"So, let me get this straight." She began with a drawl. "You want to go out with me because you saw me skating at the ramps last week?"

She eyed the slightly cute guy beaming at her with a calculative eye. He smiled at her as if baring his bleached teeth would make her swoon for him. His predictability made her arch a brow.

"You were great Wave. I was truly impressed back there. Besides, I like you personality. You just seem like a great girl and I want to know you better, if that's okay with you." He said, slowly pulling his hand from its side and onto the table to rest it on hers.

Her brows practically met her hairline. _Bold, but I'm not falling for you. You're the biggest player around the school. _

She subtly pulled back, taking her apple with her hand. "So, if I reject you, what's that going to do to your pride?"

He smirked at her but she could tell he felt like she was wasting his time. He was wasting her time, time that she needed to finish her apple in peace. "Are you going to try?"

Wave shrugged. "You're an asshole. You cheat on girls whenever you've get the chance. I've seen you dump a girl a second before picking another. You honestly think I want to even be seen with you let alone date? You're really just a walking jackass, aren't yah?" She smiled when he scowled at her. "Look at that, I didn't even directly say no and I already hurt your pride. I'm great, right? You still up on that date?"

"You're really something Wave." He dryly said, standing up as he frowned at her. "Maybe that's why you've got no guy."

She hid her scowl as she ate her apple with a bigger bite. "Go die in hell slut-bag."

He left after that, grumbling as he reached his squad. She didn't have to look that long after he paid them some cash. _Scumbags, that's all you are and ever will be._

Suddenly, a hand blew up and down her face, and she gave an exasperated sigh as she registered who it belonged to. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Getting your attention," Silver said, taking liberty to sit next to her. "Did I win?"

"Gold medal," she muttered sardonically. Silver beamed, and then looked over her shoulder before going back to her.

"You were talking to Hick? What'd he want?"

"Oh, he wanted me to do a blowjob. He was just making sure I don't for- Dude, I'm kidding. Don't go white on me." She said quickly, chuckling while she smacked his cheeks. That brought back colour to his stunned face. "Geez, you need to lose that gullibility you have. It's going to get you raped."

Silver shook his head, although slowly. He regained his full colour. "Ugh, Wave?"

She looked at him, blinking. "Hmm?"

He coughed then, looking to the side. "You're hands."

"What about them?" She asked.

"They are glued to my face,"

She pursed her lips, slowly moving them away from his cheeks. The slight disappointment from the loss of contact didn't escape her but she let it go. No way was she thinking about anything like that.

Wave shifted in her seat actually moving away from Silver to throw away her eaten apple and staying further away from him than she normally did in his presence. "So, how are you kiddo?"

"I'm older than you," he said sharply, raising a brow at her remark. "But I'm fine,"

"Even with girls cornering you?"

"You make it sound like they are molesting me."

She laughed at that. "Yeah, only you can say that with a straight face."

"Shadow..." he suggested with a smile. "I'm sure he'd be able to say that."

"Please, he'd just scowl. Besides, he wouldn't even be embarrassed. I can't even imagine a time he'd feel shy or ashamed of something."

Silver, to her surprise and interest, smirked. He chuckled and leaned closer. She truly resisted leaning back. "Well, there was this time when Shadow-"

"Silver,"

"Crap," Silver muttered, moving away from Wave as she frowned. He whirled around and met Shadow's glare. "Oh hi, nice weather we are having, right?"

Shadow crossed his arms, glaring still. He gave a curt nod at Wave who received it and responded with a short wave.

"So, what are you two doing here? I didn't call you over."

Silver shrugged with a slightly puzzled look on his face. "Tikal texted me to meet you. She didn't explain why."

"Maybe that's because you didn't ask," Shadow said, sitting on the table instead of the seats surrounding it. "Amy told me to follow Silver, just so you know."

"Amy? Are you two together?" Wave asked, barely missing his disgusted face by her question. "What? You two practically have each other's name sprouting out in public. Besides, didn't Amy take you to that Russian café? It's like becoming the best popular place for first dates in Station Square."

Silver chuckled, patting Shadow knee. "Wow, congrats on that."

"Listen to me well you two," Shadow said, seething through his teeth. "I am not dating that flamboyant ditzy Rose. She already has loose feeling for-" Wave swatted his arm, glaring at him. "What?"

"Don't say it out loud. People will talk." She said, sliding her eyes over the cafeteria.

Shadow scoffed. "Psht, as if they don't already. She's transparent like glass. It's only a matter of time before Sonic realises anyways."

Wave scowled at him, wanting to thwack him again but Silver only piped in with his voice before she could, reasoning. "It's true Wave. Amy's easy to read. I just wonder why Sonic isn't able to get that..."

"Sally's making him dumber by the day. Fool." Shadow muttered and Wave agreed with him on that. Ever since Sonic's been seeing Sally, she hadn't seen him being the perceptive blue head he was. He didn't zip off much anymore and he was getting bored by things faster than normal. If she recalled anything about Sonic, was his love for photography and that was slowly fading.

She patted Shadow's arm and Silver's shoulder blade. "Well," she smirked. "It's good to know that the anti-Sally Acorn congregation is on its way to success. Good job guys."

Silver mockingly saluted. "Aye Aye Boss, we are glad to be part of the making."

"Don't even make me attempt to say anything," Shadow said but he smiled (or at least that's what she wanted to perceive that smirk as).

"Oh, it's good you're here Shadow,"

"Amy, finally decided to show up huh?" Wave said, slipping her arms away from the boys and giving her friend a jab on the cheek. "We were just talking about the anti-Sally Acorn congregation, want to join?"

"Please, I'm its maker." Amy said, making Wave give her a smile.

"That you are Rose that you are."

"So, why are we here anyways?" Shadow asked, "And before you say because of the Anti-Sally what's-her-surname crap, make sure it's quick and serious."

"Well, I don't know. Tikal told me to meet her with you guys." She said, frowning a bit. "Wonder where she is..."

"Ngah, she should at least make it to her impromptu meetings." Wave grouched out, crossing her arms then.

"Sometimes she sure is unpredictable." Amy said, taking a sit next to Shadow on the table. "You never expect much from her, but she ends up throwing that in your face, right?"

"Yeah", Wave conceded then looked at Shadow. "Oh, forgot. Did you get your phone back?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "When I said Amy texted me, what'd you think I used to read it?"

"Well, you can be unpredictable too. "

"Wait, go back a bit." Silver raised his voice, giving Shadow and Wave a questioning stare. "What's this about Shadow's phone disappearing?"

Amy snickered, "You didn't hear about it? Well-"

"Rose, you better shut it." Shadow warned, narrowing his eyes in slits.

"Oh stop that Shads. Look at you. If you keep glaring at people, you're going to paralyse the muscles around your eyes. It's called visual stroke, just so you know." Amy teased hitting his shoulder as they laughed a bit.

"Anyways, Tikal pickpocketed Shadow's phone," Wave sprouted out making Amy giggle, Shadow groan and Silver chuckle. She smiled herself and bit her lip to hold back a chortle. "He had to use Sonic's phone."

"Though, why'd she do that anyways?" Amy asked, wondering out loud.

"Maybe she wanted a conversation starter," Silver suggested and then quickly snickered. "So, Shadow, where exactly was your phone before she took it?"

"In my trousers' back pocket." He said, not knowing why Silver asked that.

Amy and Wave looked at each other and then turned to Shadow with smirks. "Wow, she's super daring to go that far to talk to you."

Shadow nearly blushed. "Shut it,"

"Great, made it."

Amy perked up instantly. "Sonic?"

He grinned at her, "The one and only."

"Great, did you get the message too or are you just figuring that we ditched you?" Shadow asked, leaning into his palms and giving a blank look at the blue head.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I was talking to Sal on the other side of the school. This place is kinda large if you're in a rush."

"But you did get the text, right?" Silver asked.

"She told me personally. She said she's sorry and she's coming right now."

Amy bobbed her head and then quickly turned to Wave. "Oh, wanted to warn you. I heard Hick talking to a group of guys about a bet. He said he's going to ask you out and take you on a wild ride or something."

Wave said, remembering what she saw earlier. "I hope he was talking about that rollercoaster in Twinkle Park."

Amy shrugged. "Just wanted to warn you, that's all."

"Don't worry. I turned him down before any of you showed up here."

Sonic nodded. "Well, that's good. There are rumours surrounding that guy. We wouldn't want out technician getting in any trouble."

"Technician? Since when?"

Shadow scoffed. "Since these two,"- he pointed at Silver and Sonic who were decent enough to glance away-"they broke their boards."

Wave arched a brow and then regressed to growling at the boys. "You did what? Do you know how much time I spent on them?"

"And do you know how much money we spent on them?" Sonic asked back eliciting a glare from Wave.

"Sonic, she might take out a wrench. Don't provoke her." Silver whispered in mockery.

Shadow rolled his eyes and Amy laughed. "Fools,"

"Don't you just act so coolly about it." Wave snapped. "Those were my babies."

"We adopted them, thanks, mom." Sonic teased and Wave cocked her head before throwing a punch at his shoulder. "OUCH,"

"Weakling,"

"Wave, that wasn't nice. I'm sure they didn't mean to break the boards." Tikal said, walking up to them. Odd, they hadn't noticed her. Wave frowned at her almost instantly.

"How'd you know what they did?"

"Maybe it's because they told me before they told you." Tikal said, sitting next to her as she greeted the rest. "Oh, it's great you guys are here...all of you...Shadow, what are you doing here?"

"Don't start, you vixen,"

"Ooh, did something happen between you two?" Amy asked, looking between Tikal and Shadow. "Do tell, we are friends, right?"

"I won't talk to you about it." Shadow hissed.

"It's nothing to worry about anyways." Tikal added casually. "So, I'm guessing you guys are wondering why you're all here."

"What is this, Survivors? Stop putting up tension and just spit out the point." Wave rushed, pounding her hands on the table. "Like, Now,"

"Wave, stop doing that. You're attracting people's attention here." Silver murmured, pulling her hands to her sides. She frowned, moving away from his grasp.

"Whatever,"

"So, why are we here Tikal?" Sonic now asked, causing everyone to look at the girl. She pulled at her hair as she beamed at her friends (Yes, she considered Shadow a friend.)

"I wanted to ask you guys if you wanted to go to a lake house for the school vacation. It's for one month and we have it all to ourselves."

Amy smiled. "That'd be great. I'm in."

Wave nodded. "Count me in too."

"Don't have to ask me twice." Silver added with a grin.

"I can't say no to you Tikal." Sonic said.

"Hell to the no,"

Everyone turned to Shadow with frowns. "What? Why?"

"I won't spend a month with people like you, especially her." He pointed at Tikal, who only blinked.

"Shadow, just 'cause she snatched your phone from your ass doesn't mean you've got to be such a bastard." Wave said evenly.

"Wave, better understand that you're writing your death certificate if you continue with that statement of yours." Shadow growled.

"Wait, hold up," Sonic said, standing up and staring at them all. "Tikal did what?"

"I grabbed his phone..." Tikal confessed, blushing a bit as they turned their gazes into smirks. "What?"

"From his butt?" Amy cheekily asked.

Tikal turned scarlet. "No, are you nuts?"

"Please don't tell me you're noticing that now." Wave remarked, and Amy socked her head.

"Okay, you guys. Let's torment Tikal later." Silver piped in.

"Wow, thanks Silver. You saved me from a lot of trouble."

He grinned at her. "You're welcome Tikal."

Amy and Wave thwacked his head. "She was being sarcastic. Don't you dare take it to heart."

"Ugh, guys, Shadow's sneaking away." Sonic called, pointing at said guy's retreating form.

Silver blinked a bit, and then turned towards Shadow's walking. "Shadow, if you don't come back and accept Tikal's offer, I'm telling them about your problem!"

Sonic sniggered a bit. "Oh, and we're gonna exaggerate it too."

He stopped and then slowly turned around to glower. "Bastards,"

"Is that a yes then Shadow?" Tikal asked, smiling at him.

"Go die and take your offer with you."

"Hey," Amy came in, scowling at Shadow. "If Sonic or Silver tell me I'm gonna spread it around. Let's see how that deals with your bad boy image in this school."

He stopped glaring, but narrowed his eyes. It wasn't long before he sighed. "Fine, whatever."

Amy and Tikal high fived causing Shadow to roll his eyes and disappear shortly after.

"You guys aren't going to tell us, aren't you?" Wave asked Silver and Sonic.

They both shrugged and grinned at each other.

* * *

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**YAY, I updated again. Hope it pleases.**


	15. Chapter 15

**APRIL**

* * *

**WEEK FOUR**

* * *

Wave was convinced that she was highly dependent on Silver. Well, not highly, but it was unusual for her to even hold two hour long conversations with the guy so easily that she mistook the time for half an hour. Not that she was being bitter about it, because heaven knows how she could; she just didn't think she'd be so comfortable in the guy's presence so easily.

Did she really treat Silver differently?

She didn't really feel like answering that question with words if she was dealing with Algebra. Exams were coming to an end and by two days, they'd be over and done with. She wouldn't complain about how easy they were anymore and she'd, thankfully, be gone to enjoy her vacation with the guys and girls.

But still, her mind zoned in on the guy sitting crossed leg with a book napped on his legs while he roughly scribbled down equation after equation. Wave was certain Silver was probably the hardest of workers in academics. Not that that got him any further than Shadow, but he was good enough to call Sonic dumb or academically challenged as Shadow had once said.

As bored as she was, Wave stopped doodling in her text book and assumed the role of curiosity as she watched Silver with a calculative eye.

He was hot, that's for sure. She admired that about him for some reason. Not that she was even attracted to the guy, but hey, a girl could fanaticize here and there, right? No problem, so she kept at it. His features were unique, so that was a very excellent point there. She still remembered cafeteria time when she had tried to assess the guy but sprinted off instead. Though, she was still confused why she had been caught by gullible looking eyes like that. It's not like he was that hot, sheesh.

But, well, going back to what she had been questioning her head for. Did she treat the guy differently?

Maybe, but how much is that maybe anyways.

Honestly, how hard can it be for her not to think correctly after what she had finally confessed to Jet about how she truthfully felt for him?

**FLASHBACK**

_His headphones were playing an annoying rock song she had always despised since she met him, but disregarding that particular dislike, Wave stepped into his field of vision when he didn't catch her loud call. She dumped herself on the grassy floor, crossing her legs as he slowly removed his headphones, lowering the loud music to mute._

"_Wave?"_

"_Jet," she acknowledged with her mouth thin but voice serious. "We need to talk, like now."_

_For the most part, Jet didn't look happy about it, but he sat there under the tree, silently hoping she was going to say something he hoped she'd say._

"_I want to...I want to tell you that I don't want 'this'-" she gestured at the air between them"-to keep going on like it's normal." She expressed, biting her lower lip as she strung words together properly while Jet sat there, listening. It took a while before she found better words actually. "We've been friends for ages, and even though you are the most snarkiest guy with an ego problem, you are my friend, best friend, so I don't want that to change because of anything that has happened the last couple of weeks before, Jet. I just want 'us' back. The real, original us."_

_Jet levelled a steady gaze with her, his mouth not showing much but a tight line. "Is that all?"_

_Since she was ducking to avoid any gaze she'd feel regretful for giving, she snapped up, meeting his unreadable face with her eyes wildly. Why wasn't he reacting at all to what she said? 'Is that all?' is not something he should say at all if she had just spewed a month's work of words despite the length._

"_What do you mean by that, Jet?" She asked, pulling at the blades of grass extremely. "You think-"_

"_Don't try to assume you know what I'm thinking," he quickly and lightly said, which was weird. They sounded bitter but she couldn't really point that out with the wind blowing around. Then just as she was trying to process her thoughts, Jet moved closer to her and...patted? her head and shortly after running his fingers through her hair, Wave was shocked to the bone as he began giving her a hearty cackle._

_Confused now, Wave looked at her said best friend in what she hoped was worry. "Oh my god Jet, what's wrong with you? Aren't you supposed to be mad or something?"_

_He ruffled more of her hair, causing Wave to close her eyes and try shaking him off. Jet laughed again. "Is that why you looked like you pissed yourself? If you still think I'm crushing over you Wave, then I'm glad to tell you that I've found a new love to peak my interests."_

_To say she was taken aback was beyond the greatest of understatements of the millennia. _

**END OF FLASH BACK**

"GAH, how dare he say that?" She screeched, throwing her textbook on the floor with frustration and obviously pulling Silver away from his book with shock written over his pretty face.

"Wave, you alright?" He questioned, closing his book and straightening out his legs with a groan. "You kinda look troubled."

"Do I sound troubled?" She barked out, crossing her arms and glaring at her guy friend.

Silver decently went red from the question. "Yeah,"

"Then I'm troubled." She concluded, standing up now, crossed arms as she began pacing around her room to ebb away her annoyance, confusion and anger. "You know Silver, I don't get it. How can he just tell me that as if he didn't care at all?"

"Eh, what are you talking-"

She cut him off with another loud scream that pierced her own ears as well. She really needed to hit something right now, preferably green. "I even helped him deal with his hair crisis in grade school you know. It took a lot of jell and straightening to get it to how it is now, but this is how he repays me? By kissing me and then allowing me to avoid him only for me to make a fool of myself when I try to settle our tension by saying he found someone better? How is that fair, huh?"

"Wave, is Jet still haunting you?" He asked, standing up but far away since she was practically a walking time bomb with very strong scratchy nails. "If he caused you trouble-"

"There is no 'if' here." She barked at him, lowering her gaze to meet his torso before going up again with so much rage that she could burn the house down. "How does a guy go about telling a girl he kissed that he found someone else and not expect the said girl to not mull over the crime? Just what is wrong with the male populace? Are players really that hard to tame? I mean seriously, how could he jump out of love like that? He said he had a crush on me, and now he was chasing after another girl? You know, if she does wear a bigger sized bra than me, then Jet could go screw her and himself. If this is about sizes, then it's explainable, right Silver?"

The way she looked at him, expecting a correct answer made Silver fidget and clammy. Was Wave really that frustrated to not see that he was clearly not willing to talk about that? Heaven only knows how much he wished he could die right now.

Wave coughed, directing her heat towards him again. "Well, is it size or not? You can't leave me hanging here man."

"Ugh, can we not talk about that? Aren't you made at Jet?" Silver mumbled with his red cheeks high in heat.

"Well of course I'm mad, but it's Jet we are talking about. I should have expected that ass to be like that. Oooh, once I get my hands on him, I'm going to wring out every body fluid in his body, starting from head to toe. And when he hears my nagging, he'd be half dead and walking to hell." She threatened, again walking about and thankfully leaving Silver to regular breathing. He couldn't remember her question let alone answer them. So, he was stuck with a rampaging Wave who seemed to curse her luck a lot.

It was then it hit him.

He quickly darted out her room, the door slamming behind him as he ran down the stairs.

The minute she heard her door slam shut, Wave was going hysterical.

"Silver, you bastard, you can't just runaway while I'm regressing!" She yelled, harshly opening her door and following her soon-to-be-dead guy friend.

* * *

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Amy scratched behind her ear, muttering a low curse before erasing the large error she had been working on for the last couple of minutes. She nibbled on her lower lip, writing down another square root and cube root before adding numerous letters and numbers beneath the said numbers. She really hated Algebra. If she wasn't good at it, what was the point in being studious in it anyway? Sure, Tikal and Wave and Cream had coaxed her into it, though Wave threatened with cutting off her hair, so here she was, in an empty class room alone and hungry as she worked on equation after equation.

"This is unbearable," She finally confessed to herself, her voice travelling around the hallways in an echo. "Wasn't I having try outs, like, I don't know, two weeks ago? It's so unfair." She threw her pencil outside the window, probably blunting it since she was sure she was pretty high up.

Her eyes roamed around outside, the morning fresh and baking the Mobian sky. She had been here since 8AM and right now it was 11AM on the dot. That was likely more than two hours ago and she was already frustrated with studying alone. It's unfair that Silver called dibs on Wave's study group meeting of two. Last year had been Storm and no matter how many times Amy had begged, if she didn't pull out five hundred rings, she wasn't going anywhere near Wave's house during examinations.

She pursed her lips now, digressing away from Wave's frustrating ways to the tiny blob of black ambling away from the school gate and into the campus. She arched, going closer to the window that was opened already to see who was here on a Saturday morning.

Once she deciphered that the black was a blue, Amy's lips grew into a smile as she began tittering. Well, besides her fallen pencil, now she had a reason to actually skip a couple of minutes of study.

* * *

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Sonic pushed his sunglasses into the neck of his shirt. It was sort of hot outside so he chose to wear light clothing for the day. A faded blue shirt with mid-length sleeves and pants that at least made him feel cool around the knees due to the designed shreds at the front. He started towards the school's opened door, rolling his pencil around his fingers as he languidly whistled a random tune.

Sure, he was bored and kind of pissed that he was forced out of his own apartment by the exact feeling, Sonic didn't mind that much. He could at least cram study for the last few days of exams before he enjoyed some social time at Tikal's family's lake house. It's good that she brought it up last week. He would have been lost on what to do during vacation time.

He really needed to thank that girl somehow one day.

"Sonic?"

He looked to the left, eyes widening. "Amy, what are you doing here?"

Amy smiled, slowly dropping low to pick up her 'accidentally dropped' pencil from where she assumed it had fallen. Once she was up, she earnestly went bright. It was great to see her crush standing a few centimetres away from her on this morning. Her mind was eased and now refreshed. "Well, I think I came here to study, but I've been bored out of concentration so I'm just loitering around, you know."

For some reason, Sonic found himself smirking, which sort of caught Amy off. Did she do something to receive a cocky grin like that?

"Well, how about we spend time together then?"

Amy had the decency to turn red at his somewhat ambiguous wording. Sure, she had openly flirted with guys before, but they weren't heightening her interests at all. Sonic was a major difference and she didn't know how to react any other way than she is now.

"Um, where's Sally?" She suddenly blurts out and immediately hits herself mentally for her stupidity when she saw him look at her funnily. She places her hands in the air, dismissing the cloud of her nervousness hopefully. "Okay, that came out wrong, I actually wanted to know if-"

"She's with her sister." He cut her off, and Amy nods, not thinking about why he had suddenly needed to clarify that quickly. Well, it's not like he was, but hey, she hoped, right?

"And how's she doing?" She asked again, her voice sounding awkward and very insincere. She didn't care how Sally was at all and it left a bitter taste on her tongue. She was supposed to forget that Sonic was Sally's dude, but seriously, she could never get the fact that there was a wall and once she bumps into it, she has to deal with reality no matter how crappy it was.

In the meantime, Sonic was sort of getting bummed out. He didn't really know why, but he thought Amy would at least be the wild girl he usually saw her being. Why was she acting like all the other girls in his class now? Was she faking her spontaneous-ness all this time? He silently hoped not. That'd be just a bigger bummer.

"Hey, Sonic, how's Sal-"

"She's doing alright Amy, but can we talk about something else besides my girlfriend." He harshly says, causing Amy to flinch a bit with shock and as he saw that, he quickly added. "She's quite a distraction after all, you know what I mean, right?"

Amy slowly nodded, realising that she wasn't really happy with what he was implying. "Well, it's good to know that at least you've got someone to call a beau." She says, hiding her bitterness as she 'accidentally' dropped her pencil again to pick it up. "Unlike me, you've got the opportunity to have your lips engulfed by someone."

Sonic wholeheartedly sniggered, scratching his cheek from her words. "Well, yeah, but you do know we are still driving down relationship avenue, right?"

Amy despite her grouched up interior, stuck her tongue out.

"Careful, I'm tempted to pull that out."

She feigned horror and Sonic chuckled.

"See, you always make me laugh."

Amy beamed again, this time jogging up towards him and looking him straight in the eyes and before he has the ability to decipher what in the world she was doing in his face, Amy spits out her tongue, wobbles her brows and twirls the balls of her eyes around as her features are squished in by her pushing hands. For lack of better words, Amy had just made a very gruesome face that caused Sonic to double over and laugh out loud, literally.

"What the hell? Are you trying to kill me Ames?"

"Death by laugh is a very unique way to be remembered, right?" She teased, sniggering into her palms once she relaxed her face. She turned to Sonic with another fit of humour. "But no Sonic, I don't think I want to kill you."

"Wow, you don't think huh? I do so not believe you on that one."

"Well it's only a matter of time right? You've got to give in sooner or later."

"I choose the option after later, thank you very much."

"Fine, suit yourself."

Before he has time to respond, Amy turned around and it was in seconds that Sonic realised she was leaving him. Now, as much as he adored Sally despite her control issues, Sonic wasn't that strict with his personality like Shadow to not actually administer that Amy Rose wasn't a delicate looking girl at all.

She sashayed as she walked, and it was the way she was walking that made him realise she was in a pair of shorts that cut mid-length of her thigh, a tank top that curved her out and slightly damp pink hair. If he was going to be truthful here, Sonic never assumed girls were beautiful. He liked calling them cute, pretty and also adorable but beautiful deserved to be for his mom and that's all. He had called Sal cute, pretty, not adorable but gorgeous and hot, but never beautiful.

He shook his head, clearing his mind before he almost spelled out what was on his mind. Amy was his friend and Sally was his girl, and even though he wasn't the scion of commitment, Sonic knew were his loyalty laid now and that was with his chestnut coloured girl.

Besides, what he saw in Amy was different from what he saw in Sally. But no, he couldn't think about that. He was sort of worried about what his mind was telling him and what his heart was trying to say. Thank goodness his gut was a mediator when it comes to the emotional. If it had picked a side, Sonic would be lost.

Slowly regaining his mind again, Sonic jogged after Amy. Though, he was originally here to study and at least get an average of his usual marks, he wasn't going to deny that he was comforted by Amy's presence. Maybe they could study together. After all, if they got to know each other now, there'd be less awkwardness between them at the vacation, right? Well, he believed so anyways and hoped too.

* * *

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.

Tikal slowly squatted to pick up the bag of tissues she had dropped on the floor by mistake. She would have actually touched the small sack had it not been for the sudden hand that swept it away from her. She arched a brow at the sneakers before going back up, wondering who the dude was.

He had green hair that stuck out in front from his baseball cap and if he wasn't smiling instead of smirking, Tikal would assume that this guy was Jet's long lost sibling or distant cousin. The similarities were a bit eerie but she made no comment as she examined him. He was taller than her but at least she was lined next to his ear instead of under his chin like most guys she knew.

"Can I help you with something?" She asked since obviously he wasn't speaking at all. Besides, she was sort of having a headache. She was certain she'd seen him before, but where?

The guy chuckled, shaking his head and sort of looked bummed out. "I can't believe you don't recognise me Tikal. It hasn't been more than three years either and look how fast you've forgotten lil' o me."

He had green hair, looked a lot like Jet, said lil o me like a whiny girl and knew her name..."Bean...is that you?"

He grinned and it was all it took for her to furiously hug the lovable guy she knew about two years ago. "Oh my gosh Bean, you've grown so much over the months. How in the world are you taller than me!?"

"Puberty, duh," He stuck his tongue out and she rolled her eyes.

"Thing is it didn't change your demeanour at all." She said and then suddenly punched him in the side. "You are still my annoying, clumsy and immature childhood friend."

"Wow Tikal, it's good to know your sweet sarcasm hasn't died down."

She giggled as he scratched his neck just like he always did when he was nervous. Did he change habits now? She hoped not. Bean was always easier to read than a book. "So, how's it going? I heard you attend Emerald High now. Is it a really good school as people say?"

Bean shrugged, stopping his neck scratching to give her a wide dopey grin. Gosh, did she miss this dude. "Well, I'm doing alright now. Bark's got me on strict study policies. Honestly, it's like I'm in a military regiment or something. That guy's a dictator, stupid ass-"

"Not even your language changed, huh?"

He gave her a thumb up and continued. "I'm flattered that you noticed." He said, picking up her casket of toiletries as he motioned for them to walk around the store to pass time. Not that Tikal minded. After all, she wanted to spend time with her friend.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

She jabbed him with her elbow. "Can't you stop being obtuse for once? I wanna know how your school is treating my little firecracker."

"Okay, first, don't call me that. I didn't like it and never will." He said, his voice coming off serious but above all humour filled. Tikal smiled and nodded. "Well, second is that my school is great. We've got a lot going on around there and I made friends with a bunch of weird people. So yeah, I'm coping."

"You're coping? What's that supposed to mean?"

He scoffed, and when she saw that he was about to cross his arms but failed since something was dangling in his elbow, Tikal couldn't help but point out how different his little quirks had changed. Bean rarely crossed his arms or scoffed. He resorted to snorted and loud cackling.

She wondered if she changed as well.

Bean abruptly appeared in front of her face and gave her a pointed look. "You aren't even listening..."

"Wha-"

"What's on your mind? You just look pensive and stuff." He cut her off, a look of concern in his eyes. It wasn't even weird at all.

She chuckled at herself for falling for the guy's still ever present innocence. "Well, I guess I'm wondering if I'm different. You changed a lot in just a couple of months and I didn't even know who you were until I felt hinted. And loot at you, you look great. Different wardrobe and stuff but me? Nope. You even recognised me...so yeah...I didn't change..."

Bean suddenly placed his hands on both sides of her cheeks and she was forced to stare into his eyes which looked upset and rather confused. Tikal meekly tried forming a smile but he didn't respond so it just fell off from keeping it up so long.

"Bean?"

He shook his head, the intensity of his gaze penetrating her. "You did change Tikal, a lot really, mostly physical, but you changed. The only way I was able to know that it was you standing looking at tissues were your eyes and smile. I could never forget that, okay? Never. Besides, don't you know you look gorgeous?"

"I'm wearing sweatpants and a fading, old tank top..." She said. Of course she was dressed like this. It was about a twenty minute stroll towards the convenient store. No need to go fancy.

"Oi, don't interrupt me. Now, where was I-ah, yah, you changed. Now you aren't a paedophile's fantasy anymore. You've grown okay? You are like a steamy walking goddess of erotic-"

Tikal slapped his hands away, flushing furiously in embarrassment. "I'm going to go home now."

"Wait Tikal, what'd I say wrong?"

She turned around, still red in humiliation. "I don't know Bean, but have you ever considered that you've got a dirty mouth?"

He only looked more confused. "But I brush my teeth two times a day, floss and mouthwash!"

Tikal's lips stretched and she began laughing.

* * *

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"Silver, what the hell is wrong with you?" Wave angrily smacked him upside the head, glaring at his back as she tried regulating her breathing. She should have followed him with her board instead of her bare feet. How she forgot to slip on shoes was beyond her.

But the case here wasn't about shoes. She'd been so upset, broken, confused and mad that Jet had just confessed to her that he found someone else to play with and when she sought out support from Silver, he just suddenly had to run into the street like that? What kind of guy did she think he was to do that to her?

For starters, he was a dead one.

"You couldn't wait for me to at least break down in hysterical tears and tearing up my room so you could run away? Is it that hard for guys to deal with tears? You are such a wimp Silver." She railed on and on, still thwacking him at his head, neck, and back. She even added a good kick to his side.

Then, just as she was about to slap his shoulder, Wave felt herself being pushed behind and unceremoniously felled on her behind on the grassy floors of the park. She groaned as she tried standing, but she was held back by wonder when she saw Silver sit next to her.

She could only blink like a broken mechanic doll having a short circuit. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Silver shrugged, handing her a cone of vanilla with sprinkles. She arched a brow at the flavour she was certain she only told her mom about that she liked. She slowly took it but stared at Silver. "How'd you know it was my favourite?"

He shrugged again and Wave hit him upside the head. "Idiot, don't act mute all of a sudden. You've got the gift of words, so use it or else."

"Sheesh, you really are violent. And here I thought Amy was worse..." He grudgingly muttered, earning another hit to his head. When she tried doing it again, he held her wrist. "Can you stop that? I'm trying to help you and it isn't really nice to keep hitting me like that in public."

Wave snatched her hand away, narrowing her eyes as he began indulging himself in his pure white vanilla cone. "You didn't answer my question."

"Which one?" When he received a questioning look from Wave, Silver grinned, licking his treat. "Was it the one about your size? Or if players are hard to tame or if something is wrong with the male populace-"

"Okay. Okay, I get it. You have a super ability of remembering junk." She mumbled, licking her ice cream before it melted down her fingers. She mewled into it and lapped at it hurriedly.

"It's not junk," He expressed and Wave stared back at him, now confused. He didn't really look at her a lot but she didn't really mind. "If you are upset, I don't mind how you deal with it. You can rant all day and I'd listen for however long you want."

"Even if it's for eight days?"

"Well, it's not like you are going to last that long, but yeah, as long as I get to shower and eat, then I'm prepared for the battle of feelings."

Wave beamed suddenly, shaking her head. "You're a sick bastard Silver."

"What?" He touched his forehead and returned to look at Wave. "I'm not sick at all. My temperature is very normal today."

Wave shook her head again, this time letting out a short laugh. "Oh really now, but seriously Silver, when did you become funny? I'm pretty sure Sonic doesn't share all his secrets."

"Eh? You don't find Sonic funny."

"Touché, but answer my question-and this time, the one about why you are being all funny." She said quickly, and then dipped her nearly finished ice cream down her throat. The sheer coldness comforted her.

He finished his cone a while ago, so he was free to place his arms behind him and lean on them. Wave waited for an answer and she was surprised that she was being patient. She was never patient. If she was, she'd be cursing anyone that passed by her.

"Well, you're confused."

She looked at Silver, more...well, confused now. "What do you mean by that? Are you trying to call me crazy?"

Silver's shoulders shook as he rumbled out a laugh. "Yeah right Wave, as if I didn't know that, but yeah, you are confused. You're frustrated too since you can't pull yourself out until you straighten things out. It's sort of hard to point this out sometimes since you really look free-willed, but Wave, you're a perfectionist, aren't yah?"

His head was reclined towards hers but Wave was beyond shocked. How'd he know that she was..."It's not like I'm going to deny it, but how the hell did you know that all that?"

Silver didn't really smile but Wave knew he was laughing at her in the inside. "What Wave? You really think I don't notice you? After all, I keep staring at you."

* * *

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**NeW chapter update. Hope it pleased.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I've got to say something really important, well important to me since I'm changing some stuff in this fic. You see, dear readers, I've realised I can't keep categorising my story in weeks since there are way too many things that need to be brought up in a short span of time. And I rarely write anything over 5000 words, and that isn't much for me. So, from now on, every event that takes place would be according to how long I want the month to last. So yup, that's all there is to say really.**

**Sorry for the slow updating. I'm too busy with life's drama to pop around here much but I'm getting there. **

**Hope it pleases then, neh?**

* * *

**MAY**

**.**

Sonic scratched the back of his head, sighing loudly in exasperation. "Can someone help me out here?"

Wave, being one to never pass the chance to tease, snickered sickly in amusement. "Aw, you two look adorable together. You know, with her drooling over you and all."

Sonic eye twitched and he looked down at his lap, sighing in relief when he was assured Amy wasn't dripping saliva on him. All he saw was her peaceful face snuggled in the fabric of his jacket. She was practically holding it for dear life and he'd tried, but prying it out her hands was eventually hopeless.

He sighed again. He really couldn't feel his legs anymore since she slept on him since they were on the road and that had been two hours ago. "Oh come on Wave, you're just mad about the boards. I said I was sorry."

She pursed her lips, recalling the hard work she put on those boards. She grew bitter all of a sudden and frowned. "Doesn't mean I'm going to forgive you. Suffer Amy's rock headedness Sonic, suffer."

Shadow, who had sat quietly since the ride, turned to the two with an arched brow of curiosity. "Then why isn't Silver being treated harshly?"

Wave surprisingly grew a spot of pink that didn't go unnoticed to Shadow. Sonic, unfortunately for her, seemed to have noticed it as well and by the amused chuckle he was sending her way, Wave guessed her fortune lucked out.

"So what? I'm still thinking of a punishment, hmph." She lamely came up with, turning to the side with crossed arms. She bumped into Tikal, who was fast asleep and leaning on Silver' shoulder, who was sleeping as well. She rolled her eyes at them. They looked even more naïve when they slept.

"Come on Wave, what's going on? You've been avoiding the guy since he came over at your place." Sonic asked, snickering deeply which caused Amy to stir a bit. He looked down to make sure she was asleep and turned back to Wave with a smirk. "Did he do something...inappropriate?"

Wave bristled, her blood boiling in annoyance at his accusation. "Silver would never do that."

"Then he said something his dense mind couldn't understand, right?" Shadow asked coolly, leaning into his palms slightly, the tiniest sign of a smirk forming through his words. Wave cooled herself down a tad but the irritation wasn't going away at all.

"What's up with you two?" She groaned, scratching her head and rolling her eyes. "First of all Sonic, Silver did nothing inappropriate at all, he just bought me ice cream and we talked, and you Shadow, don't act all cool with me. Besides, Silver always says something dense, what makes you think he said something to mess with me now if I've been with him all this time, hmm?"

Shadow, ever one to burst her bubble, said, "He's more understanding when someone's stressed. Who knows what he said to you."

Wave pinched the bridge of her nose. Gosh, she hated this douche. He always knew how someone felt the moment he peeks into their business. It was so irritating. What was worse had to be how right he was. She'd been avoiding Silver ever since he'd told her some really misleading words. At that time, he sounded so understanding and pointed out a couple of her quirks so swiftly she thought aliens had taken the real Silver and replaced him with a more observant clone. Or maybe they just fixed him. He was a freak of nature after all. Silver hair and yellow eyes. Couldn't get any freakier than that.

"Can we just drop this discussion? I don't want to murder you guys now since I don't know where to bury the bodies around here." She professed tiredly, even though the threat lingered strong enough for both Sonic and Shadow to heed.

"We've made it," Bark said aloud, getting the three's attention instantly. He slowed down, coming up to a large house with a larger lake making up the expanse of the area. There were cottages around, but anyone could tell that the home they parked near to couldn't compare to them. It was just greater.

Wave let out an impressed whistle as she got out the car, eyeing the brick covered house in awe. Shadow woke up Silver and in doing so, made Tikal awake as well. Amy had to be slapped by Wave herself to get her to leave Sonic's lap and even then, the girl was feeling groggy.

Bark heaved their luggage out, giving extra effort in carrying the three bags Amy had brought with and the medium-sized toilet bag she brought along. Wave rolled her eyes at the rosette's luggage as she carried her's into the house with everyone following.

Immediately, the door opened, revealing a tall guy with messy brown hair flowing in the slight winds. He beamed brightly and ran to pick up Tikal in his arms, which Wave had to admit, were muscled. Damn, Tikal was lucky she knew the guy.

"Tiki, it's been ages since I've seen you." He exclaimed, bouncing her up and down as Tikal blushed in embarrassment.

"Don't call me that," she grumbled lowly in warning as she heard the chorused chuckles her friends gave when they heard the treacherous nickname. "I'm not that small girl with the Hawaiin skirt anymore."

Mike ignored her pout, messing her hair up as he gave her head pat. He turned to her friends, and simply waved at them with a show of his pearly white teeth. Secretly, Amy wondered if he had a girlfriend.

"Wow, look at all you pipsqueaks. All ready for the great month ahead of them." He said, happiness way too high to be healthy. Mike then turned to Bark, as if noticing him for the first time and blinked. "Eh Bark, you don't peg me as the kind to drive two hours to the woods. What'd your wife do to you?"

Sonic snickered, and Bark flicked his head. He groaned, touching the itch as Wave scoffed out a 'you deserved it' with an eye roll.

"Mike, can we get going already. I don't have all day you know," He said, walking into the room as he pushed aside his high school buddy. He rolled Amy's two bags into the living room as the group of kids followed behind him with Mike on their tail.

"Neh, you're still all grumpy. Is the missus not providing you with all your basic male needs? If not, I know this great lil-"

"Mike, if you don't want to die, you better not finish that sentence of yours." Bark barked, turning to glare at the brunette in contempt before going outside towards the car to make sure the gang of high school students haven't left anything in there.

Mike stuck his tongue out when he was sure Bark wouldn't see. "I can't believe I'm going to be stuck with that prick for more than two hours."

Tikal sighed, shaking her head. She'd had forgotten how wonderfully immature Mike was. She should have known asking Bark to take them here was a major mistake. Those two weren't a good combination among the public, and if they were alone, who knows what could happen. She just hoped Mike wouldn't tease too much.

Bark came back, still bitter as he took notice of Mike again.

"We're leaving okay?"

Tikal nodded, smiling at her guardian. "Okay, safe drive Bark and be careful Mike."

"Eh, why?"

"He's going to murder you soon."

He chuckled, ruffling her hair again. "Don't worry your pretty head over it Tiki. I met him since kindergarten, and look, I've still got my internal organs running dandy."

"Then why aren't you smart enough to realise Trish is engaged?" Bark scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Eh, she's engaged? Since when?" Mike asked, smiling as he walked towards the door with Bark who grumbled in annoyance. They shut the door and in seconds, the car was revving and leaving them.

Tikal exhaled, and then turned to her friends who'd been deadly silent since they entered. She arched a brow as she saw none of them were even in the room. Her lips formed into a frown when she heard Amy screeching about a room she liked and Sonic yelling about how cool the toilets were. Really, she thought they'd want a tour.

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* * *

Wave grinned so much she thought her face would be stuck like that forever. Yet, in honesty, she wouldn't mind it one bit. After all, her self-proclaimed room was amazing. It had a single bed in a corner with the most comfortable duvet ever created. The pillows were super soft as she lay on the bed, sighing. She turned to the side, sighting large closed orange curtains hiding a French window. There was a closet and dresser on the other side of the wall, with a leafy green plant giving life to the room. A large mirror showed her full body view and Wave saw her reflection and childishly watched as she waved at herself.

She threw her head back with a sigh. This was going to be a great holiday.

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* * *

Amy weaved through her stuff, instantly beginning to pack her clothes in the closet. She'd loved her room. Of course it wasn't any different from Wave's actually. They just had a brighter shade of drapes that's all and she fully didn't mind. She was on a freaking month-long vacation with her friends and of course Sonic, her growing crush.

She couldn't think of a time she'd been this joyed. With no Sally Acorn here, it was just like heaven. She didn't have to worry about school since she dedicated last night to finish her holiday homework and though she slept only an hour before she had to leave with the gang, it seemed to have paid off since she slept in Sonic's laps. That had been great and she still had his jacket. It was wrapped around her waist securely and until he asked for it, she was keeping it.

The opportunity was finally here to make Sonic hers. Well, not like he was a belonging that had been stolen from her, but Amy made it her mission to show him that he was missing out on some tender loving that Sally wasn't obviously giving. The one thing she liked about Sally had to be the way she could rarely state her feelings without looking like a rock. She was just really serious about relationships sometimes. Amy giggled at that. At least that meant something positive for her, right? Well, she of course felt guilty she was thinking like that, but sometimes, she realised, being overly selfish wasn't wrong at all.

After all, Sonic's affection were on the line here.

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* * *

Silver threw himself on the comfy bed and instantly began relishing in the comforting feeling of the bed gave him. He'd seen the girl's room and he was sort of surprised the guys' room was of the same design. He didn't mind the similarities that much but he had hoped for some jumbling here and there. But, he shouldn't complain. A vacation away from high school was what he and everyone else needed now and it was all thanks to Tikal. If she hadn't asked, who knows what they'd be doing now.

He turned to the side, pulling at his jacket so he could take it off without really moving much. Eventually, it came off and he took off his shoes. He might as well rest for a while. They had a whole month to have fun, resting today won't deter that.

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* * *

Sonic wasted no time unpacking. He tucked everything in compartment after compartment, and once he was done, he wiped his sweaty palms on his shirt, only to notice he didn't have his jacket around him. Narrowly missing that he gave it to Amy and left it in her arms, he frowned. He'd better ask for it when he saw her. It was his favourite navy blue one with the white collars and a red stripe on each arm running from the shoulder to the wrist.

He was actually about to go and get it but he stopped at the door when he heard his phone ring. Wondering who it was, he smiled slightly when he read Sally's name on the caller ID.

"Hey Sal's, how's it? Miss me already?"

"_I'm doing fine Sonic, but I called for another reason besides missing you."_

His eyebrows went up at her straight to the point tone. She could have at least tried to sound playful. "Yeah..."

"_I was wondering, maybe you could come and meet my parents. Alicia's been dying to meet you as well you know. It'd be great if we had you for the holiday you know. So how about it?"_

Sonic sat on the bed, scratching his neck. He didn't expect the boyfriend-meeting-parent thing to happen this soon actually. With all his thoughts being scattered around, he'd been giving less of his attention to Sally and driving it towards his friends. To be frank, he'd forgotten Sally over the few days.

"_Sonic? Hello, you still there?"_

He coughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, sorry, zoned out for a while." He admitted, grinding his thumb on his knee. A very old habit of nervousness he had thought he left behind. "But Sal, you know I'm with my friends for the vacation I told you about."

"_Well, I was thinking that I could get my driver to come get you."_

Sonic couldn't resist the loud noise he made from the shock of her suggestion. "Sally, you can't be serious, right?"

"_I don't see what's wrong. After all, you are my boyfriend, right? Don't you want to spend the holiday with me, Sonic?"_

Wow, she was being all seductive and inviting yet Sonic felt nothing but displeased. Her words really got to him and he couldn't help but think she was being a bit too insensitive. "Sally, I can't just leave my friends in the dust. We planned this for a week and I'm not just gonna leave because-"He immediately stopped himself. Not only was he being mad and bit loud, he had almost told her that the reason behind her call was because she was being clingy and insensitive.

"_Sonic, what were you going to say?"_ She demanded, her voice rising. _"Tell me,"_

"It's nothing Sally," The fact that he wasn't calling her 'Sal' as usual didn't become unnoticed. "Sorry, Sally, but I'm not going to do that to my friends." And he didn't want to meet her parents or Alicia either. He just couldn't tell her that. "I've got to go."

"_Soni-"_

He hung up and threw his phone on the bed. It surprised him he just hung up on his girlfriend just like that. Was it bad of him? Yeah, he kind of thought that, but for some reason, he wasn't really regretting doing it. Maybe it was because he felt so pissed. He really didn't know, but he was sure about one thing, he wasn't going to think about it.

And the only way he could stop thinking about it was a couple of doors away with his jacket.

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* * *

Shadow walked around the big house, slightly surprised that he was considering being blackmailed coming here wasn't all that bad of an idea. He didn't expect the place to look fancy with polished wooden flooring, carpets of good fabric, large French windows, comfy beds and great air conditioning. Not that he was glad Tikal had sort of twisted him around accepting the greatness of this place, but he would give her credit, it was only fair. She'd outdone herself for booking this place for them. But, no matter how grateful he should be, he wasn't really willing to blatantly tell her that. The girl could use a simple 'thank you' as ammunition for anything. That vibe just read off of her that's all. So he had to be careful for a while around her until he understood how she worked.

He turned to the left, and he felt a thump in his chest. He narrowed an eye as he gazed down, seeing the girl herself groaning as she rubbed at her nose. Of course she just had to look up and have him glare at her.

"Watch where you're walking." He snarled, turning to leave but before he was out of ear shot, he heard her grumble.

"Stupid ass,"

His eye twitched. He had hands, why not throttle her now and hide her body? She deserved to be thrown away anyways and he'd gladly do the honours.

He swivelled around, grabbed her by the elbow before she stalked away. The way he pulled her towards him would have put them in a compromising position had it not been for his eyes trying to peel off everyliving cell that existed in her. This girl was infuriating and the fact that she hadn't even flinched when he glared at her made his annoyance level spew.

"This might be your place, but believe me, if none of the guys and girls were around, I'd throw you in the lake and drown you."

To add to his anger, she rolled her eyes, pursing her lips. "Well, I wonder how you'll be able to do that if you can't swim."

This girl was either really secretly bold or just stupidly blunt. No matter what she was, he wanted to throttle her with vigour. She had just told him off and now she looked like she had just said the worst thing in the world. Was she bipolar or something?

"Oh my gosh Shadow, I didn't mean to say that." She profusely apologized, holding her mouth, completely showing her softer side, the one he could handle well.

He pushed her away from him, standing away from her and sneering in anger. "If this is the way you want us to start over, then you are doing aren't doing a good job at it."

"Shadow I didn't mean-"

"Yeah, whatever," he dismissed the argument, turning away and walking with his hands in his pockets. It always had to be her that turned his mood more sour than it was already was.

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**Really hope it pleases [^.^]**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks to all the reviews and followers. I really appreciate them.**

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**MAY**

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"MOVIE TIME! MOVIE TIME! MOVIE TIME!" Amy and Wave obnoxiously shouted, running around the house and banging on every door. They of course eventually found Shadow loafing in his bed, Silver sleeping and Tikal reading. Sonic was already in the hall when he noticed them. Amy dragged Shadow out his room, followed by Tikal and Wave jumped on Silver's bed, shaking him off the bed with thud.

He shot up, eyes wide from the impact. "What the hell?"

Wave grinned impishly as she pulled him up, and tugged him along with Sonic to the large living room. Shadow rolled his eyes at the tight grip Amy had on his wrist and Tikal sighed, allowing to be towed like a rag doll. They ended up on the large beige coloured couch. Amy, being Amy, snitched up Sonic from Wave and rooted herself next to him followed by Silver and Wave and Tikal sitting tightly close to Shadow, the latter two uncomfortable by the proximity.

Amy snickered as she sat up and pushed the disc into the DVD player. The screen turned a bright blue by the time Wave had unseated herself and went to make popcorn and brought bags of chips and cola. She handed them to the waiting hands before returning back to the kitchenette to get the popcorn and butter. Tikal watched her two friends frantically move about in interest, holding up a wide dopey grin.

"Amy, play it already!" Wave stridently ordered despite being in the room. She had found a large bowl and it was filled with melted butter spread around the white puff balls. Taking her seat next to Silver, she dropped the bowl in his arms and waited for Amy to play.

The movie did start and it caused Tikal to gasp when she saw the first scene play out. Eyes wide in shock and fear, she turned to Wave. "I hate horrors, you know that!"

Wave snickered wickedly after she saw a pretty blonde got her liver pulled out of her. Amy gasped and took hold of Sonic with a vice grip as she dunked down her cola. They both watched in wide eyes at the pained screaming before the movie lulled into blackness before officially starting with the plot.

Tikal, not at all wanting to get frightened again, began sitting up but Wave pulled her down, accidentally getting her to sit in Shadow's lap. Wave and Amy high fived, Sonic snickered and Silver watched keenly as Tikal turned red.

"Wow, Shadow, you've got yourself a nice catch." Sonic hysterically laughed, causing Shadow to groan and push Tikal off of him, right on the floor.

The girl squeaked, and turned around and thwacked the guy on his thigh. "That was totally uncalled for."

"Yeah," Amy and Wave agreed, throwing popcorn at Shadow. "Be nice to a lady."

"I will when I see one." He barked back, and deeply tried concentrating on the gore in front of him, ignoring the protest from both Amy and Wave.

Another sickening blood splatter and brain squashing showed up on the screen, making all the girls squeak in a delighted shock except Tikal who pushed herself at Shadow's legs. The dark brunette groused in annoyance, not at all trying to kick her off when she wrapped her arms around his legs. _Stupid girl gets scared too easily_.

"Amy, I hate you." Tikal groaned in sickness, prying her eyes away from the carnage in disgust. "We could have watched Bambi."

Wave and Shadow snorted at the innocence. Tikal didn't care. She couldn't stand horrors. They were just too scary. She hated them. The paranoia that came as an after effect wasn't thrilling. Any movement, sound and scent sent her jumping in fear of having her body parts ripped off of her.

Silver sympathised as he continued watching Tikal quivering around Shadow's legs. He slipped on the floor and allowed Tikal to scurry into his arms. She hid her face into his neck and oddly enough, she wouldn't let go of Shadow's legs. Shadow passes a look down at his legs and excused the scene to return to the TV. Wave looked at the two and her eyes quickly turned back to the movie. Why did she suddenly feel like a bad person?

Amy leaned forward, munching on popcorn as she watched a redhead sneak into a dark hallway, not knowing that she was being followed by the hideous monster. In seconds, her legs were caught and her toes were ripped off and her body was shredded into pieces. Tikal squealed and dug deeper in Silver's arms and Shadow for the umpteenth time rolled his eyes. Sonic chuckled as Amy stuck onto his arm in thrilled horror. Wave didn't tear her gaze away from the pointless killing either.

In another hour of gasps, screams, tugging, holding and the occasional ear-deafening, the movie was showing its credits. Tikal, thankful that it had ended, stood up wobbly to turn the TV off. Of course, the directors and producers of the movie decided that immediately as the credits ended they'd show another horrific part where a guy gets his head chopped off and his eyes sucked up before they hit the screen in a bloody mess. Tikal screamed like any other girl surprised from the fear and jumped back, landing in Silver's arms before scrambling away and meeting Shadow's arms instead.

Amy laughed with Wave and Sonic as Tikal wrapped her arms around Shadow's waist forcefully. The female brunette mumbled something incomprehensible under her breath which sounded more like cursing and clasped herself tighter onto Shadow. Silver chuckled in hilarity as he stood up and stretched.

"Well, I'm heading outside." He said slowly and just as he was about to leave, Tikal gasped and looked at him in stunned fear.

"But it's dark outside! What if-" she cut herself off, and dug herself into Shadow as he began prying her off. "You can't leave me like this Shadow."

"I don't like you, of course I can." He shot back, trying to get her off of him. Tikal only became more glued to him and silently whimpered.

"But I'm scared,"

"Then piss your pants already."

"I think I already did..." He made a face and furiously tried to push her off. Tikal carped again. "Metaphorically speaking that is."

Sonic and Amy looked at each other knowingly and turned to Shadow and Tikal with dirty smirks. Wave snickered next to Silver after giving the rosette another high five.

"Shadow, take her to her room. She's way too scared to go alone now." Amy instructed with a goofy grin plastered on her face along with Sonic. Silver and Wave laughed at the disturbed look Shadow gave them at Amy's suggestion.

"Then why won't any of you do it?" He barked angrily.

"Well, she isn't stuck to us." Wave pointed out smartly. "Besides, once she gets into her bed she's gonna have to let you go."

Silver nodded, snickering. "Unless you want her to hold you like this the whole night."

"Now Shadow, Tikal's innocent, don't corrupt her just yet." Sonic laughed loudly and Amy joined in with the rest as Shadow dragged the scared girl with him into the darkened hallways. Of course, he growled all the way making Tikal shake in fear. He was sort of scaring her.

"Hey Shadow, don't deflower her in the hallway. Keep your hormones in check!"

"Wave, go die!" Shadow yelled back and Tikal not liking the sound, thrashed her head around in his torso.

Honestly, Shadow couldn't help but think how stupid this scene was. Of course she looked like the type not to like horror films but did she have to react so drastically? Jumping around and screeching just because of bloodshed that wasn't even real was sort of uncalled for. She should have at least tried leaving instead of groping around people.

Eventually, he was able to drag her to her room, but there was a slight problem. How in the world was he going to get her to bed? Her arms were tightly circled around his waist. He had tried pinching her off but she only gripped harder and made a noise of pain. She wasn't going to let go. The realisation struck him in a slight shock and he had to do something. He couldn't have her grow onto him.

As he laid her down on the bed, Tikal pulled him down as well and snuggled into his stomach. Her legs nearly dangled off the side but she curled them up and kept her head buried right into his gut. Shadow blinked in confusion. What the hell? Was he seriously not going to do something? He could push her off but he had the hunch she'll pull him down with him.

How spiteful. This day wasn't going good for him at all. It was already bad enough he couldn't stand being in the same room as her. Did he have to be so close to her that air couldn't even move between them? She was definitely not going to let go any time soon anyways.

Shadow sighed. He might just read the book he felt under her pillow. Hopefully, she'd wake up and realise who she was treating as a teddy bear.

* * *

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Amy and Sonic started cleaning up the living room as Silver and Wave did the dishes. The latter two finished around ten minutes later and not feeling up for more sleep, Silver slipped out the kitchen door and outside, right in front of the large lake glittering due to the moonlight. He stretched his arms in the air and as he put them down, Wave appeared by his side, making a grunting noise to make him aware of her presence.

He gave her, what she thought, was an earth-shattering grin. His eyes glowed a deep shade of golden yellow and Wave looked away, not bothering to contain the slight pinkish tint her cheeks got coloured with. She fixated her gaze on her showing toes as Silver sat on a lawn chair, the only one there since the rest were packed into a corner on the other end of the house. Wave not knowing where else to sit, tried shoving Silver aside but instead, he pulled her in between his legs. No one would believe her, but she discovered ten new shades of red.

Wave's mind seemed to leap into memory lane. _"What Wave? You really think I don't notice you? After all, I keep staring at you." _What he said was not good for a girl's heart. The ambiguous wording made her jump to various conclusions that caused a heap of blushes to reside on her cheeks. It's not like she was crushing over the guy, but she wasn't a fool. He had the looks to turn any girl into mush. She couldn't be immune to his looks. It was not possible.

"Hey, I like this."

Wave reclined her head back, making sure he sees her confusion. He picked up on it and sent her a smile that normally numbed her but this time it actually paralysed her into staring way longer than necessary. Silver didn't seem to notice though. Thank goodness for the creation of dense.

"You know, this whole year is working out fine. I remember how we met. You kept calling me a mongrel and you were so annoying, you still are." He chuckled when Wave jabbed him in the rib. "What? It's true. You always have something to say to me no matter how stupid it is."

"Well, that's because I trust you now." Wave told him, her lower lip slightly jutted out. "Besides, you weren't like this. You looked so boring when I first laid my eyes on you. But you naivety was probably the worst."

"How so?"

"I remember the time you had to turn down that girl from chemistry... poor girl. She was like crying in the bathroom and her friends had to console her for like half an hour."

Silver looked sort of shocked. "I just told her I wasn't interested in dating her!"

"Liar!" Wave exclaimed, cracking up. "You told her that you sometimes wonder why girls try when they know they are gonna get rejected in the end."

"But it's the truth,"

"She didn't need it to be slapped in her face!" Wave guffawed into her hands, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. "Oh, and don't get me started on how Shadow rejects girls."

"Hah, he's far worse than I am. He emotionally hurts them intentionally."

"Those girls cried rivers, but it's their fault." Wave conceded, pressing herself into Silver as a cold wind swept over. He rubbed her arms and her spine went rigid at his sudden move. She relaxed of course with a blush.

"'I'd rather die in hell. I don't even know you. Why would I want to even kiss a girl as ugly as you? You look like a prune, go away. What happened to you? Did your parents drop your face in a bucket of leeches? I'll consider dating you when I know your ass and face switched back.' Should I say more?"

Wave ended up laughing way too loud that she brought Sonic and Amy outside to see the commotion. Of course they noticed their position but the two didn't voice out their thoughts, they were just curious why Wave was enjoying herself this much.

"What's up?" Amy asked, perching herself on the floor after finding no nearby seat. Sonic did the same, looking up and waiting for Wave to stop laughing.

"Silver just told me about the way Shadow rejects girls and I'm loveing every single second of it." Wave told them, not all hiding her laughter away from them.

Sonic cringed. He remembered every girl that got rejected by his friend and they weren't happy endings.

"It's like he bans them from liking him." Amy said, shaking her head in mirth. "What is he? Asexual?"

"Who knows?" Silver shrugged, smiling brightly. "Maybe he's trying to find Mrs Right?"

"As if he'd find her if he releases death like sweat." Wave scoffed, crossing her arms.

Sonic chuckled loudly, way too amused. "Maybe Tikal will be the lucky one."

Amy and Wave blanched and turned to Sonic, blinking heavily. "You can't be serious?" Amy asked, shaking her head. "We were just joking after the movie. It's not like we think they are gonna hit it off anytime soon."

"Yeah," Wave conceded, bobbing her head. "And if you don't obviously see it, but have you seen the way he looks at her? It's like she's his own personal Satan. He hates her."

"Didn't show today though," Sonic muttered lowly, no one hearing him.

"Oh my gosh, what if he's killing her!" Amy exclaimed in worry as she stood up. Wave did as well and looked at Amy with levelled eyes.

"I say we run to her room and snap pictures for the police."

Amy grinned. "This is gonna be like _CSI_,"

"No, it's going to be like _Monk_. No one died yet. We are investigating that's all."

Amy and Wave high fived, giggled and brought their phones up as they silently ran towards Tikal's room.

Sonic and Silver followed after.

* * *

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.

Sonic carefully watched the naughtiest girls he'd ever met. Well, using naughty to describe them was sort of childish, but still. The way the acted just fit that word. Who would sneak up on their friends and take multiple shots for the last five minutes?

Sure, it was funny. Seeing Shadow holding a book with on hand while having the other draped around Tikal's upper back with the girl tightly pressed into him. The best thing was that they were both asleep, not even budging from the girly giggles Amy and Wave tried to smother out.

"This is sort of creepy, right?" Silver asked, whispering into Sonic's ear. The blue head nodded frantically in agreement.

"I feel like a stalker." He admitted in a whisper, but he couldn't contain the large goofy grin of amusement that came later when Tikal sighed, contented and snuggled deeper into Shadow's stomach. She moved up and was now resting her head into his chest leaving Shadow's arm to go around her waist.

Sonic turned to Silver and grinned widely. "But it's worth it, isn't it?"

Silver conceded wholeheartedly. He shook with laughter as Amy crouched low and took a picture of Shadow's sleeping face. Wave took it too at a different angle, her smile stretching so much so it looked like she was going to have to use her hands to arrange her face normally.

Silver patted Sonic on the shoulder and beckoned him to follow him. Sonic curved his brows in interest and followed Silver out and into the kitchen. Silver looked down the hallway to make sure the girls hadn't followed before turning back to Sonic.

"Okay, what's up?"

Sonic looked confused for a moment. "The sky but I'm guessing that isn't the answer you wanna hear, right?"

Silver exhaled in exasperation and stepped closer to Sonic, looking him in the eye. "You've been staring at Amy ever since I woke up. So what's up? Are you crushing on her?"

Surprisingly, Sonic turned a petty coloured red for a moment before turning back to the normal hue he had before. Silver didn't quite know how to interpret that.

"Sonic," He yelled loudly.

"Shh," He said, holding his finger to his lips with a hiss. "It's not like I don't find her attractive and maybe I do have a crush on her, but it's not like I'm gonna dump Sally for her. I'm not that kind of douche."

"But you like her, right? Like more than a friend like?"

Sonic crossed his arms, snappy. "What's your point Silvs?"

"It's obvious you are starting to like her. Make it easy for yourself Sonic. Sally and you aren't working out. Get out already."

Sonic rolled his eyes. What was with everyone? What was wrong with him and Sally? Sure, they had arguments here and there and their last one was one of the greatest but that didn't mean he was going to dump her or anything. He was attracted to Amy, yes, more so than Wave and Tikal, but still. Physical attraction doesn't make up a relationship. Yet, that's how it started out with Sally, but they worked around it.

_Then why won't you work around it with Amy then?_

Sonic groaned. His mind was going to be the end of him. He couldn't take Amy in if Sally was already tightly locked up.

_You've got the key to unlock her. Let Amy in. Sally is just going to be another girl you dated. Amy can be different. _

"Sonic, is something wrong?"

Sonic blinked; surprised that Amy was suddenly up in his face. She looked seriously concerned as she stepped back, allowing him personal space. He breathed in much needed air. He was at loss so much so that he hadn't noticed Silver leaving and Amy shortly coming in. It showed he was in the rubble. The only thing that kept him with Sally was no longer affection. He didn't know what it was, but it felt bland, boring and empty.

The little crush he had for Amy was steadily growing though. He wasn't going to lie that he liked her more than a friend. Though, he didn't know if she liked him back. There had been signs...but, she acts nearly the same with Shadow. But, well, what he saw in Tikal's room spoke differently again. Amy hadn't looked disturbed by it, so did that mean she wasn't troubled if Shadow and Tikal hooked up? Or was she just good at stuffing her emotions into a bag?

Sonic sighed. He really hated trying to untangle himself from feelings. They were never going to make his life easy it seems.

He didn't really know what he did next. Sonic just found himself leaning closer towards Amy's ear and sinking his chin in her neck. He gave her a hug, it seems, and he didn't let go for a long time. He released her after a stronger, satisfying embrace before leaving and heading to his room. He'd rather think about what he did on a bed.

Meanwhile, Wave and Silver watched in shocked awe. Had that really happened? Had Sonic given Amy a very intimate hug that couldn't be called friendly? Wave wanted to faint. First it was Shadow and Tikal now it was Amy and Sonic. The holiday was playing out rather nicely for drama.

Silver observed as Amy touched her chest, freeing a breath she'd been holding. Her face was deep red as she turned around, most likely planning to head to her room. She caught sight of them but didn't say a thing as she passed by them, eyes glazed.

Wave worriedly rotated towards Silver. "Do you think we should help out?"

Silver bit his cheek. He didn't expect that to happen really. He just hoped nothing bad would happen between Amy and Sonic. He turned to Wave and shook his head. "Not unless they are digging their graves. Let's see how it all plays out first though."

Wave bobbed sluggishly. She wondered just how much Silver knew about Sonic's tiny crush on Amy. It was sort of odd that he noticed before anyone else had. She always thought Silver was the lesser Mobian, not knowing what was going on around him. Yet, today...no, today was different. Did he always know what was under every word said? Probably not. Yet, she couldn't shake off the feeling that Silver possibly knew how his touch occasionally solidified her.

She sighed. Why all this worries? Weren't they all just high school students?

* * *

.

.

It was roughly around 6AM that the whole gang woke up to what came to be called Tikal's horrified screaming. Being a couple of doors away, Amy was awake first as the sound waves clearly passed through her mind and rang her up. Wave was next after she heard the thump that sounded when Amy had fallen after hearing the piercing scream. Sonic and Silver peeked their heads out their rooms, wearingly looking down the halls as the girls trudged towards Tikal's room.

Another scream, this time muffled.

Wave slammed the door open and stood in shock with everybody else as they saw Tikal pinned to her bed, eyes wide from surprise and mouth covered by Shadow's hands. He was practically growling in her face as he lay on top of her. From anyone's point of view it looked like they had been getting it on and Wave and Sonic couldn't pass up this chance at all.

They each took a snap shot of the scene, saving it under the name '_Blackmail'_ and promptly protecting the pictures using passwords.

"This is rape!" Wave exclaimed after hiding her phone in her robe. She had her hair tied up into twin braids, a purple robe that clung to her knees and a silky orange nightgown. She ambled towards the two and got a better look.

"Shadow, how'd you get your shirt off?"

Amy of course, walked up with Sonic and Silver behind. It was true. Shadow was indeed shirtless. Only in a pair of trousers and his socks- the only things on his body, adding his underwear of course.

Shadow glared at each and every one of them as he snatched his hand away from Tikal's mouth. It was bad enough he woke up to her screaming, now he had to deal with the bunch of people he called friends with a morning headache. Last night he got ringed up to sleep with his least favourite person in the world and he wakes up to the same person, horrified and banshee screaming.

Besides that, the only reason he was shirtless must have been because it was hot. He must have unconsciously slipped out his shirt. He'd been doing that since he was a kid. It wasn't intentional. Even so, these four wouldn't believe him, not at all. His morning was officially ruined and it was Tikal's fault. Uh-Uh. He wasn't going to sink alone.

Shadow, in front of his friends, grabbed Tikal and threw her into his laps. Her back was pressed into his chest as he brought her closer and circled his arms around her waist, looking protective and annoyed. He turned his ruby coloured eyes to the shocked faces the standing four were giving him and he could feel Tikal's face turn the colour of his eyes. He completed the show by snuggling his chin into Tikal's neck and pecking her jawline lightly before glaring at the even more stunned Amy, Sonic, Wave and Silver.

"You guys really know how to break up a party." He said in a mocking angered drawl. "Just when I was about to get into it too,"

Amy and Wave turned red, Sonic, clearly disturbed, coughed and Shadow had a hunch that Silver was trying to not bleed on Tikal's floor. _Perfect, they all deserved this. _He shrugged, moving Tikal with him in the process. She ended up squeaking and pushing herself off and into her blankets after pushing him on the floor. It was sort of fast, and as he sat up, he looked at her covered form and scoffed.

"You see, now when am I going to get more action if you guys scared her like that?" He added salt to the growing wound in a bored voice. As he got up, he smirked at the sound of Tikal's objecting whimpers. He should tease her around more. Revenge for being born annoying.

* * *

.

.

"It's embarrassing Amy, I can't do it." Tikal groused, sinking her head deeper into her comforters seeking comfort yet deep down, she wanted her pillow to gobble up her head. The embarrassment of earlier was engraved into her mind and no matter how many times she tried not to think about it, her mind randomly popped up Shadow's fixed hold on her. Oh, the shame. She was never going to live this down.

Obviously annoyed, Amy heaved out a sigh. She and everyone else including Shadow (she wasn't sure categorising Shadow as 'everyone' was good for the heart) had showered, dressed and eaten. They needed to go grocery shopping since the pantry was practically growing cobwebs. It was already bad enough her love life was acting up, Amy just didn't need a stubborn girl.

"Will you just suck it up?" She yelled, placing her hands on her hips and tapping one foot. She meant business but Tikal wasn't budging. Not at all. "Come on Tikal, there's nothing for lunch. We need to go shopping."

"Then go. Leave me alone so I can mope."

"Don't be the drama queen, that's my role. Besides, we don't know this place. We can't just randomly drive around. We'd get lost."

Tikal craned her head up and turned towards Amy, her eyes pleading. "Amy, if you truly love me then you'd understand I just can't go shopping with you guys. Not after..." No, no words could describe what had happened. What happened to good things happening to good people? Tikal sunk back into her pillow. "Please Amy, not with him around."

The rosette heavily let out a breath. This was getting more ridiculous by the second. Sure Shadow had made up interesting stories to tell after the holiday but that didn't excuse the fact that Tikal had a guy feeling her up. Well not exactly feeling her up. Just a normal touching and embracing, but still, if Amy could have anything, she'd want Sonic doing just that TO her. So, Tikal shouldn't even be complaining.

"Tikal, I was given the task to get you down there in about an hour." Amy said in a tone that required attention. Tikal only turned to the side and covered her head with her pillow. "Fine," Amy pouted childishly. "Be that way. I'll just call Shadow up and-"

It happened in a blink of an eye.

Tikal was brushing her teeth frantically in her adjoined bathroom.

Amy smirked. She could totally use this to her advantage.

.

.

* * *

.

.

**Sorry for not updating in a while. I was in the exams so I couldn't think of anything but academics. But now, nothing to do. I'm in holiday now and until next year no school for me. **

**Hope it pleased.**


	18. Chapter 18

**MAY**

* * *

.

Around the time Amy and Tikal headed outside in the slightly blazing sun, everyone seemed to have huddled around Sonic. His face was lightly illuminated by the light of his cell phone's screen as he scrolled through whatever got Silver, Wave a_nd_ Shadow interested.

Tikal reluctantly stood by, furthest away from Shadow due to obvious reasons of discomfort from earlier that day. Amy, however, curiously trotted towards her group of friends, hoping to get her intrigue quenched.

"So...what'd y'all reading about?"

Everyone, besides Shadow and Sonic, turned to face her, faces straight.

"Actually," Wave began, sounding unsure.

"Sally dumped Sonic,"

Amy blinked.

"...eh?"

Shadow stared at her, eye brow rising. "Has your constant screaming finally rendered you deaf or what?"

The rosette briefly forgot the insult and stared squarely at Sonic, who by now had his phone tucked into his trousers' pocket. "Is that true?"

He shrugged, wriggling his mouth. "No one's lying Ames. Sally really did dump me."

"But...why?"

Wave hacked on air, immediately turning to the rosette in quick shock. "What do you mean why? Aren't you supposed to be happy?" She harshly whispered into Amy's face. "This is your chance to get the man of your teenage dreams!"

"Well," Sonic chuckled, almost nervously from behind them and Amy thought, horrified, that he heard every single word that came from Wave's mouth. "It was bound to happen anyways."

"Really?" The relief came from him not hearing.

"We had a fight on the first day I arrived and to be truthful, I was actually planning on leaving her after the holiday, you know, face-to-face." He glanced at his phone, a rueful smile. "Guess this is better. Narrows down the drama,"

"And you're okay with this?" Tikal asked, carefully gauging his reaction. "It was sort of sudden."

"And very smart of her,"

"Wave!"

"What?" She asked, surprised by their shock. "It's obvious that she was no good for the guy. Besides, no one even liked them as a couple. She did everyone a favour for dumping him. Geez, you all need to chill. People break up all the time."

"You couldn't have said in any subtler?" Shadow asked tersely.

Wave smirked at him. "Now, where's the fun in that hmm?"

"Well, what now? We've already covered the fact that Sonic changed his status from 'In a Relationship' to 'Single-"

"And ready to mingle," Wave added, cutting Silver off with a sway of her head. Everyone turned to her, eyebrows furrowed. She rolled her eyes, wagging her index finger. "Oh please, you all were waiting for a side comment, just admit it."

Silver slowly eyed away from the purple head. "Anyways, what should we do now?"

"Well, obviously, we are going to do what we originally planned on doing before Sonic's status change."

"Truth or Dare?"

"Silver!" Wave smacked him upside the head. "You ruined the surprise. Geez, now Shadow's going to avoid it!"

The guy rubbed his head, grousing. "That really hurt Wave."

"You hurt my confined surprise. It's much worse."

"Can you two get a room? Or are you finally going to kiss and makeup?" Sonic asked, chuckling, despite having been dumped a few minutes ago.

Wave and Silver turned towards him, mouths agape. "That's disgusting!"

"You guys are in sync," Sonic whistled, bobbing his head approvingly. "Nice..."

"Sonic, let's play a game. It's called Ass Meet Face."

He fervently shook his head, moving behind Shadow as he waved his hand up, dismissingly. Amy and Tikal wounded up giggling and Shadow rolled his eyes, wondering why he was surrounding by these people for the nth time.

* * *

.

.

It was surprisingly fun how grocery shopping turned out to be, or at least that's how Amy saw it. After landing in the mall, all she thought about was how a small town in the country had a mall in the first place. Sure, it wasn't as major as Station Square's one, but still. It was pretty amazing how the grocery shop was one of its largest shops.

Of course, that didn't really matter much to her.

Sonic was frigging single and of course going to mingle! This was her chance. Wave was right, and Amy couldn't help but grin like a loon every now and then when Sonic, ever the occasional flirt, out of habit brushed his hand on her arm or made a fleeting gesture of his fingers running over the small of her back. Sure, maybe it had been awkward at first since last night hadn't really highlighted this day to be any better, but maybe his newfound status allowed the tension between them to dissipate. Well, whatever. Amy had enjoying it.

Sadly, Tikal hadn't been thrilled. Amy had to feel sorry for her friend. Shadow wasn't really going to let her go. Whatever she had done to have him bent revenge must had stroke a powerful chord in the guy. Amy did note that Shadow seemed to walk closer towards Tikal when she wasn't concentrating on the awkwardness. She just hoped Shadow wasn't going to scare the girl that much. After all, seeing her usually calm friend flustered was a guilty treat.

Wave was more...how could Amy put it, prying. Yeah, she was nosing around that's for sure. Whatever interesting quirk she found in Silver had to be looked at like a discovery on an examination table. Though, Amy wasn't sure why Wave was acting like that (she was obviously going to question her on that tonight) she did notice how Wave and Silver seemed to be the most comfortable among them. While she and Sonic were on the light touching and Shadow and Tikal on the promising of embarrassment gauge, Wave was amiably putting her arms around Silver's shoulders, laughing merrily.

_They looked like a couple._

She had initially thought, and by the always subtle blushing when Silver held Wave in a specific way she liked, Amy wasn't far from assuming something more between her two friends.

* * *

.

.

"Okay, so I was thinking, how about tomorrow we all go to the lake. We've been here for a while now I need to at least swim you know."

Tikal carried the last of the bags into the kitchen before setting it down on the counter, grunting. She stepped back and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "How about we go right now? It's getting hotter."

"We've got air conditioning," Amy noted dully from the fridge.

"Which causes global warming,"

The rosette glanced over her shoulder, eyebrows raised. "Did you just go all eco on me? Wow, it's been a while since that side of you showed."

Tikal pouted, crossing her arms childishly. "If none of you are willing to join me for a dip, then by all means have fun doing whatever it is you're willing to ditch me for."

"Eating?" Wave piped in mockingly, and Tikal rolled her eyes, walking away to her room and determined to find her swimsuit.

"What's with her?" Sonic asked, having noticed the brunette storming off down the hall.

Amy and Wave shrugged, not really sure themselves. "Probably PMS,"

Silver cringed. "Did I really have to hear that the moment I walked in here?"

"Ears are used for listening Silvs. Don't blame human nature."

His golden eyes rolled. "Yeah Wave, thanks for the comment."

"So, has anyone seen Shadow?" Wave asked later, having stocked the cupboards with enough food for the vacation. Everyone was seated at the kitchen counter, sipping on a coke. "Well?"

"Oh, I think I saw him heading down to the dock." Silver said, clearly thinking about it.

"I thought he was afraid of water."

Silver shook his head. "Sonic's the one who's Hydrophobic. Shadow's actually likes anything near water, as long as it ain't him drowning in it."

"So, he's at the dock, near the lake?" Amy began, her smile spreading across as she thought about it longer.

Wave, catching on, smirked, clearly amused. "Oh, I've got to see this."

"See what?" Sonic asked, confused. "Shadow reading some book?"

"Tikal's heading to the lake for a swim. " Wave told him, still hyped. "I wanna see his reaction when he sees her in a two-piece."

Silver shook his head, ashamed. "Wave, you're weird."

"Unique,"

"Fine, you're specially weird then."

"Oh, go stuff yourself Silvs." Wave rolled her eyes. "Come on Ames, let's head out and spy!"

"Okay!"

.

.

.

"You're going to get us killed." Sonic murmured in a bit of dread as he shamefully crawled behind Silver who, also ashamed, followed Amy and Wave. The two girls giggled at themselves, obviously taking liking for having forced the boys to do this.

"This is completely against my teachings."

"Boy, what teachings are you talking about?" Wave asked, eyeing Silver with a shake of her head.

"The ones that told me not to listen to anything you say."

"I thought you dragged us here to spy, not watch you two go on about something stupid." Sonic watched the two closely now, growing a smirk. "Or do you want Amy and me to leave you alone? I get you need your privacy..."

Each turned red, and chose to not make any further commentary that might leave them tangled in a mess they knew they wouldn't be able to handle. Instead, they each chose to spy on the tiny holes of the shrubs they hid by.

Shadow was on a lawn chair, reading whatever book he deemed interesting, looking completely engrossed in it. Wave rolled her eyes, obviously not seeing why reading novels would be better than just acting out the active parts of it. Tikal then ambled out the house, in a towel, and headed towards the dock. Clearly neither noticed the other until Shadow decided to sigh.

Amy held back a squeal with the help of Wave as Shadow actually d_ropped_ the book.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Tikal, yelping at the sound of the barky tone, leapt into the air, failing to get her bearings back when she noticed a glowering Shadow and promptly falling into the lake, towel in hand.

Sonic and Wave guffawed. "Someone please tell me they got that on video?"

Silver, to everyone's surprise, smirked. "It's on record,"

Amy gawked at him and Sonic chuckled.

"I _love_ you Silvs,"

No one besides Sonic noticed the red tint on Silver' s face from Wave's proclamation.

"OMG, he's helping her out!" Amy fanatically went wild as Shadow bent over the dock, pulling Tikal up. Their friend's face went red as Shadow actually wrapped his towel around her shoulders.

"Wait, I thought he hated her." Silver asked, eyes widened.

"We thought so too."

Then all of a sudden, there was another splash and Shadow was standing on the dock, alone, hands casually in his pocket.

Sonic's eyes went wide. "Did he just push her back in the water?"

"..."

"Did someone get that on video?"

"Sorry Wave, the shock paralyzed my fingers this time."

.

.

.

"I thought you were helping!" Tikal exclaimed after breaking the surface and gulping for air.

"I changed my mind," he stepped away when she threw both towels at his feet, obviously aiming for someplace higher. Watching her crawl up the dock nearly made him smile.

"You could've killed me,"

"Sad that I didn't,"

Tikal gasped, finally standing at the dock, and feeling livid. "Do you honestly hate me that much? I figured it out a couple of months back, but why are you suddenly acting on it during vacation. You're ruining my mood!"

He stepped forward, mouth grim. She instinctively flinched at the proximity he allowed to envelop them but still stood on her feet, not backing down from the intimidation.

_Gosh, did he have to be cute?_

Wait, what?

Did she-

"What did you just say?"

Tikal focused on his red eyes, her mouth slightly open. "I-I didn't say a thing." _Please tell me I didn't, please, please-_

Shadow smirked. "You think I'm cute?"

Her heart dropped to her stomach. The wobbliness that ensured later killed her as the embarrassment dwelled on her cheeks. What she had just said was on impulse. It wasn't even supposed to be thought of. She'd been traumatised by him and now her mind links it up by telling her he's cute. Not good.

"I didn't say that!" she lamely defended, stepping back as he advanced.

Could his ego get any more bloated by her puny attempts of denial? Yes. "Oh, so if I, I don't know, kiss you then you're not going to do anything drastic, right?"

Her heart got shot up to her throat. "K-Kiss me?" She squawked. Shadow suddenly had his arms around her waist, pulling her closer towards him. Her soaked once cold body heated up as her face discovered new shades of red. "This is not real..."

Shadow leaned down, mouth deathly close to her own. Tikal whimpered. "I'm pretty sure this isn't a dream-"then of course he leaned in, and Tikal shut her eyes and for a brief second, she liked the feel of his arms around her.

Until she was pushed back into the water, _again_.

.

.

.

Wave blinked.

Amy gawked.

Sonic chuckled.

And if it wasn't dramatic and gross, Silver would have foam in his mouth by now.

Amy gasped. "He pushed her back!"

"That isn't the point!" Wave hissed, leaning down as Shadow returned to his book, looking like he accomplished a mission.

Amy ducked as well as Sonic and everyone began crawling away, back towards the house.

"Did you see that?" Amy held onto Wave, eyes wide. "He _flirted_!"

"With Tikal!"

Wave and Amy smiled at each other, giggling frantically as they jumped up and down, and felt like the revelation needed rejoicing.

"I don't get it,"

Sonic patted Silver's back sympathetically. "Don't worry dude, it's better if you don't."

* * *

.

.

Tikal, having chosen to enjoy the lake tomorrow as Wave had suggested a couple of minutes before, decided to head back into the house. With the sun setting drastically, it was getting colder and she had no source of warmth thanks to Shadow.

"You're shivering,"

She slightly jumped at the voice close to her body and swiftly turned to Shadow in cautious wide eyes. Her cheeks coloured from remembering what he nearly tricked her into believing before she quickly moved away from the dock and him.

Noticing this, Shadow rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to push you back."

"I've learned," she stuttered, still moving away," that believing you always humiliates me. So don't blame me for not wanting to be near you."

"Don't you want that kiss?" He smirked.

She flinched, hiding her blush and the tiny voice that told her yes.

Her body quivered as a wind gushed by. She really should have brought extra towels, then again, Shadow wasn't supposed to make the one she brought with wet and his. She shook again, moving away.

She stopped when she felt something over her shoulders.

Looking up, she saw Shadow with his book in one hand and the other hidden in his pocket. But the casual look on his face was very questionable after what he did.

"Why'd you give me your jacket?" She asked, seeing as he wasn't going to answer her silent question.

He shrugged. "You're cold."

"Because of you,"

"Because you were dumb to think I wouldn't push you back."

She pursed her lips. "I knew it," she muttered, shaking her head at her stupidity. She shouldn't have given him credit. He was never going to be considerate. It was like expecting a rock to start walking.

Shadow was actually about to comment on that, until he caught sight of four pairs of eyes watching them through the window. Grunting at his friends shameless gawking, he rushed himself and Tikal into the house and he quickly found the shortest route towards his room before any of them decided to question him on his show of his rare kindness.

* * *

.

.

"Well, that was riveting," Sonic said, trying to sound excited. "I actually thought he'd push her in the mud."

Silver snorted, eyes travelling away from the window to meet Sonic's. "Don't you think it's sad we don't have faith in Shadow's morality?"

"Does he even have one?" Amy asked. "From what we saw earlier, I don't think morality cuts it. He did push her back in the water."

"Oh you three, don't be so glum." Wave exclaimed instantly with a grin. "The good thing about this is that Shadow cares enough to give Tikal his jacket! Plus, we can't forget how he flirted with her."

"Teased actually,"

"Teasing, flirting, honestly, with Shadow, it's just the same thing." Wave dismissed casually. "And I thought he was asexual."

"You know, Shadow is actually the one with the longest track record of ex-girlfriends than both me and Sonic," Silver pointed out thoughtfully, gaining Amy's and Wave's surprised gasps.

"Wait, are you saying mister tall, dark and gloomy is a womaniser?"

"Amy, with looks like that, I don't think it was his choice." Wave noted and then whistled pensively. "Tikal's sure lucky then if he decides to date her that is."

"Yeah, really lucky."

"Wait, I thought you had a crush on Shadow?" Silver eyed Amy in question. "What happened?"

"You did?" Wave didn't miss the way Sonic's eyes narrowed just for the slightest of seconds with suspicion.

The rosette shrugged uncaringly. "Well, I did like his eyes. So, yeah, I almost did have a crush on him."

"Not to mention how cool he is." Wave added with a smirk.

"And hot," Amy inclined, smiling.

"And mysterious,"

"Darkish,"

"And-"

"Okay, we get it. He's got the biker look down, can you just stop talking about it?"

Wave watched Sonic innocently and whispered, "What, jealous that he'd steal Amy away?"

He turned slightly red, frustrated. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Clearly unconvinced, she crossed her arms. "Whatever tickles you fancy."

* * *

.

.

Knocking on Shadow's door, Silver ran over Wave's plan.

"_It's easy, just tell him Tikal cut her thumb, and he is the only available to cook dinner."_

Though, it did sound easy enough. Silver just didn't have it in him to lie, most specifically towards an irked Shadow.

"What do you want Silver?"

How the heck did he know it was him if he didn't open the door?

"I memorised the way you knock."

Was he mind reader now? And isn't it sort of creepy to do that?

"I don't read minds and since you're the only one besides Tikal who doesn't barge into my room, it's quite simple."

Silver, resisting being freaked out by that, slowly exhaled. "Umm, speaking of Tikal, she cut her thumb and can't cook. Could you come down and make dinner? We aren't really good at it."

"Alright,"

"Really?" He didn't hide the surprise as Shadow simply opened the door and stepped out. "I thought you were going to say no."

"So I can have either Amy or Sonic at my door?" Shadow asked in an incredulous tone. "I'd rather have my sanity intact."

"You know, I think I admire that about you." Silver praised once they were down the hall. "But I'm curious about one thing. Didn't you have a crush on Amy before?"

Shooting a disbelieving look at the silver head, Shadow stopped walking. "Are you mad? Why would I have a crush on her of all people?"

"Must be because she's the first girl you accepted in your immediate circle without you creatively maiming her self-esteem." Silver informed him wittily. "That or you've got Tikal in the ropes now."

"You're right,"

"About Tikal? I knew-"

Shadow groaned. "Not her for Pete's sake. I was talking about Amy being part of my circle."

"So, you don't like Tikal?"

He sighed. "Not particularly,"

"And that means?" Silver felt suddenly interested.

"Hn,"

Silver huffed, put out. "You can't really leave me hanging."

"Just did,"

* * *

.

.

Tikal crossed her arms angrily. "I hate you Amy and you too Sonic."

"What did I do?" Said male protested, taking his position next to Amy on the floor. "I didn't drag you out your room."

"You didn't help," she slightly snapped, turning to him and frowned. "If you had, then this wouldn't have happened."

"Oh come on Tikal, you're interested in this game!" Wave exclaimed from across the room, bringing in a white shoe box.

"Not after I found out what's in that box."

"We played it when we were kids." Amy pointed out.

"Yeah, but knowing Wave, she changed something and it's against our favour."

"If it helps, I don't know what you're talking about." Sonic added lightly with a grin which only made Tikal more upset. She huffed and looked away.

Wave rolled her eyes, sitting in between Tikal and Sonic. "Someone's cranky from not receiving their kiss."

Amy poked their blushing friend's cheek in glee. "Look, don't worry, we're gonna help you out. Right Sonic?"

"Oh yeah, you're going to get that kiss, okay."

Tikal shook her head, not believing any of this, completely forgetting about asking how they even knew about it. "This is not a good vacation!"

"Oh, here's Silver with Shadow!" Wave exclaimed, instantly sitting up to pull the two to the floor. She fixated her eyes away from Shadow, feeling his glare bore into her back from guessing that whatever was going to happen was her fault. Not that she was going to denying it if he proclaimed.

Silver sat next to Tikal on her insistence of being away from Shadow once he decided sitting next to her. So now Silver sat between Tikal and Shadow, while Amy was flanked onto Shadow's side with Wave in between her and Sonic.

"So, what are we playing exactly?" Sonic asked as he pointedly watched Wave place the white box in the circle formed and placing the lid behind her. An assortment of coloured cards filled the shoe box.

"Well, it's like Truth or Dare, but the each question is already written on a card. So you just have to pick one, and if it's truth, you answer the specific question and if it's a dare, you do it." Amy summed it up, petting her chin. "Oh, and if anyone decides not to answer a question, then you all get to do a punishment."

"What kind?" Silver asked,

Tikal huffed, shaking her head. "Any actually. It makes the game more interesting."

"Okay, so we laid that down, how about we start...Shadow, you're up first!"

He eyed Wave with a glare. "Stupid," and quickly pulled out a card and with a frown, went back to glaring at Wave. "This is ridiculous."

"It's a dare right?" Wave asked, grinning like the true imp she was. "What does it say?"

"Nothin-" Amy snatched the card away and read through it.

"_Hug the third person on your right and tell them you love them._" She turned to Shadow and raised a brow. "It's not that bad."

"I'd rather do the punishment." Shadow huffed and crossed his arms.

Wave arched a brow. "Fine, you get tied to Amy for five hours."

Shadow got up and reluctantly embraced Sonic, who gagged. "Iloveyou,"

"BROMANCE!" Wave and Amy yelled in unison, laughing.

"Okay, Silver, you're next."

Said boy picked up a card and read _"If you were going to get married tomorrow, who, among the people around you, would you pick._"

"Well, that's simple enough."

"Yeah," Silver agreed with Sonic. "I'd obviously marry Shadow."

"Yeah- wait, what?" Tikal went wide eyed as Amy and Wave watched Silver in a different light. "Why?"

Silver shrugged, seemingly undisturbed. "What can I say? He's a terribly good cook."

"I'm very disturbed right now." Shadow remarked, disgusted.

"I'm scarred." Sonic informed with a shake of his head.

Amy whimpered. "Silver, we thought you were the normal one."

"Yeah, who knew you had a fetish." Wave nodded thoughtfully. "Guess we can't blame what've you've become. Living with boys and all."

Silver went red from that. "Can we just get on with it?"

"I'm next!" Amy exclaimed, pulling out a card. "_Wearing a blindfold, spin around and pick a player then use their toothbrush to brush their teeth, still wearing the blindfold._"

Everyone turned to Wave, the maker of the questions and orders.

"You guys have no sense of humour." The girl said, shaking her head. "But come one Amy, here you go." She handed the rosette her bandana and made a move to stand up and spin her friend around. Once Amy was dizzy enough, she stepped back and watched her friend wobble around until finally patting Shadow's head.

Wave laughed as she got his toothbrush.

"Why am I the one victim to all of this?" Shadow was clearly frustrated. Amy swayed towards him, sitting down as Wave passed his toothbrush in her hand with the toothpaste on and slightly dripping water.

"You could just decline it." Sonic pointed out

"And have Amy tied around me?"

"The same punishment can't be used, right Wave?" Tikal asked and for the first time, Shadow felt grateful Tikal was alive.

"Fine, then I reject this stupidity." He nudged Amy away from him.

"Really? Because, I'm going to send this pic to my friends at school." Wave said, making Shadow turn around and look at none other than a picture of him in bed with Tikal.

Tikal, not seeing it, looked confused. "What picture?"

"Oh you know the one-"

"Fine, just don't try sending it!"

Wave smirked, and flipped her phone shut. "Sure,"

When Amy finished, she took off the blindfold and as her eyes adjusted, she instantly began laughing. Her wobbliness had left her hand quite shaky so she must have swiped some toothpaste on the guy's cheek, and had somehow gotten it on his nose and his mouth, well, there were specks of foam there but his chin was rather assaulted.

Everyone else laughed as Shadow stormed off to the bathroom to wash away the gunk.

While he was gone, Tikal took out a card and she was still trying to maintain her laughing. "Umm, _Who was your first crush?_" Her face instantly darkened in mere humiliation at that. Amy perked up, giggling.

Shadow came back and watched as Amy kept poking Tikal and Wave look at them with Sonic and Silver, confused.

"What's the question?"

Wave looked up at him. "Who was Tikal's first crush,"

"Which she's not willing to tell," Amy chuckled.

"Because it's embarrassing." The girl groused.

"Oh just tell us." Sonic encouraged and Tikal pouted, but opted for telling them instead.

"_Sally,_" she quickly blurted out but everyone heard her all too clearly.

Sonic and Wave watched Tikal in wide, awed eyes. "So from a young age you were exploring _that_ side, huh?"

Tikal turned tomato red at that. "She looked like a boy at that time!"

"With a ponytail up to her waist and a skirt?"

"She was sitting! I didn't see the skirt!"

Shadow actually gagged. "You're disgusting."

"Ugh, Wave, you're next!"

Wave nodded, pursing her lips to contain her laughter. "_Order pizza"_

"Hey, that's way too simple." Sonic exclaimed.

Wave smirked, crossing her arms. "I'm that lucky."

Amy furrowed her brows. "Hey, I remember one of the cards written something of that nature."

Tikal nodded and instantly grabbed the card from Wave's hand.

"HEY!"

The brunette snickered. "_A player must mindlessly paint red lipstick marks on your face and then order pizza and have the deliveryman pay you._"

Sonic perked up after that. "Amy, you've got lipstick, right?"

Wave turned to the two who suddenly rushed up to stand. "God help me right now or I'm going to slit you're throats in your sleep."

"Yeah, that's the address. Twenty minutes huh? Alright." Shadow closed off his phone and received Wave's hardened look. "What? Want the punishment?"

"Which is?" She gritted her teeth.

"Me giving you a haircut,"

Silver chuckled. "I'd like to see that."

Wave whacked him upside the head.

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.

"You people are deranged," Wave commented, her harshest of looks being directed towards her group of friends. "Though, Shadow may just be homicidally deranged, but the thought counts."

Said male steered away from checking the time towards Wave. "Thanks, it's good to know my mentality isn't questionable." He sardonically commented and returned to his phone.

"Well, you did molest Tikal at the lake." Amy pointed that out as she placed the final touches on Wave crazy mask.

Tikal went red from that as Shadow quickly noted something. "Wait, how the hell did you see that?"

The four previous spies turned to each other, unsure as to how they could get out of this one. Shadow's glaring wasn't really making their minds come up with anything believable.

"I didn't hear you deny it." Wave drastically turned the tables around from saying that.

Shadow shrugged. "I didn't"

"Oh,"

He stared at the four again, expecting a good explanation as each sweated for an answer, and thank goodness the doorbell rung or something horrible might have happened.

"Next time," Shadow muttered darkly as he stared each one down before everyone went back to the game by pushing Wave towards the door.

"Did I tell you all that-"

"We're deranged," Sonic snorted. "Yeah, we know."

"I was going to say that you're worthy for my late April fools revenge, but that works as well. Now stop pushing! I know what I must do."

"But are you willing?"

"Tikal, if you're against me on this, then I'm going to do something that involves sexual harassment!"

"Shadow's got that down already for her." Amy insisted.

"You guys make it sound like I'm his personal slave..." Tikal muttered, standing a few feet away from the bustling group.

Everyone shrugged, not really denying the fact and as Wave was finally at the door, everyone else scrambled away. The girl sighed. Her eyes were rimmed with Amy's lipstick, which really should have been only red as the dare had declared. But no, Amy decided that pink, purple and black will make her look more drastic. And it sadly did. Her nose was painted black, her lips were a different assortments of the abovementioned colours and Wave was pretty sure the word 'Desperate in need of some loving' was scrawled on her forehead and other words of stupidity Amy and Sonic could make up.

She was going to embarrass herself, epically.

Opening the door, she just hoped it was a girl.

"Pizza delivery fr-" Apparently not since the dude, who was unfairly cute, stopped breathing at the shock. "Pi-Pi-Pi,"

If only he knew...

"Just give me the damn thing," she angrily barked, snatching the box from him and paying up.

"You-"

"Yes, thanks. I look pretty don't I?" She sarcastically asked, flipping her hair. "You're just falling for me."

"I-"

"Good night now and I hope you don't pine over my beauty. Thank you." She slammed the door in his face and immediately heard the hysterical laughter that came from the living room.

Gritting her teeth in more shame than anger, she closed her eyes and aimlessly threw the pizza box at Shadow and rushed to find the bathroom, bent on scrubbing away the fact that she could have gotten a cute boy's phone number.

"So," Amy began, wiping away a stray tear that came from laughing so hard. "Sonic, you're up."

"Heh," he laughed, still not over Wave's embarrassment. "Whatever I get, I don't think it was worse than Wave's."

He picked a card from the box and still chuckling, read through it. "_Sniff someone's feet, while blindfolded, and determine who they are, and if you fail, you've got to put three ice cubes in your underwear."_

"Wait! That's messed up man!"

"Silver!"

Said male immediately turned to Wave as she rushed through into the living room. She stopped, huffing. "Look, I want you to promise me something."

"Yeah?"

She looked at him, really serious. "Make sure Silver, make sure that when Sonic reaches Shadow, you get it on video, send it to me, and let me have my way with it because by the time school starts, people are going to finally understand how deep Shadow's homosexuality is."

"Wave, stop kidding." Amy giggled.

The purple head turned to her friend. "Sorry Ames, but I've lost a potential husband. I'm not going to let this down. This is war."

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**Hope it pleased.**

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	19. Chapter 19

**Thank you for all the reviews 'n' alerts. Really brightens up my day.**

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**Hope it pleases**

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**MAY**

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"_Somebody has a sexual tormentor._"

"You know, I find it odd that she's doing that – in the middle of the night." Sonic muttered darkly as he watched and sadly listened to Wave's singing. At one particular note, he had to cringe.

Amy plopped her head into her pillow, cuddling in her duvets next to Sonic. After their Truth and Dare game, Sonic suggested they at least camp out, highly due to the fact that they were leaving in two days' time and they needed some sort of group activity. Camping in the living room seemed to be the most likable after everyone seriously declining Amy's make-over session.

In the moment, Tikal had somehow gotten herself snatched by Shadow, and his arms were snacked around her waist. Her struggling, being futile, left her lying limp in his arms, though no one doubted that the slight fear in Shadow's hold made her quake. Amy was almost sorry for her friend, but with Wave's insistence of singing about their dilemma made it more comical.

Until thirty minutes passed with Wave singing off tune, random words.

"_His arms, oh his arms, they circle my body and-" _Sonic threw a pillow, and it accurately smacked the purple head in the face. Wave, in fury, snarled at him and threw the pillow back. "Sonic, do that again and you lose the ability to repopulate this world."

He was smart enough to move to the other side of their small circle as Wave continued with her whacky song and Tikal sinking deeper in the duvets, hoping the earth would open up and take her already.

"You know, I just thought of something." Amy sat up. Thankfully, Wave stopped annoying everyone and listened as each person turned to the rosette questioningly. Amy rotated towards Sonic, quirking a brow. "You never fully told us why Sally broke up with you."

Wave rolled her eyes. "Great Amy, you just had to ruin our moods."

"You did that the moment you were born Wave." Shadow snipped, moving into his comforters, and subtly as ever, pulled Tikal down as well. The girl squirmed, making him smirk. Revenge...

"What? I'm just curious. What's wrong with a girl wanting to know?"

"_So you wouldn't do the same mistakes if Sonic's asks you out._"

"What was that Wave?" Amy tersely asked, squinting.

The purplette innocently hummed. "Oh, Sonic, go on."

"I didn't say a thing."

"Apparently you are slow, which isn't new, so...go on."

Silver shook his head in his pillow, feeling at loss all of a sudden. "I don't think Sonic wants to talk about such things with you Wave."

Said girl turned to him, looking vexed and Silver slightly quaked in his covers. Wave smiled, which looked very wicked. "Silver, should we discuss the reasons why my hand seems to always connect with your head? I'd gladly like to remind you. I've got a bat someplace here..."

"You know Sonic, we can all share our thoughts."

Sonic glared. "Two-faced."

"It's called surviving."

Sonic sighed in his collar, scratching his head. Seeing his discomfort with the topic, Amy patted his arm, which drew his attention towards her. She hopefully sent an encouraging smile. "Don't worry Sonic, we won't judge."

"Speak for yourself," Wave added, making every eye turn to her, clearly telling her to shut it. She chuckled, and nodded in understanding.

Amy, satisfied that her glaring had an effect on her friend, turned back to her crush, the same smile as before. "Okay, so spill."

Sonic looked uncertain for a while, but since he really was among close friends, the closest he had next to Knuckles and Tails, he relaxed slightly. With a sigh, he started. "When we arrived Sally asked if I wanted to meet her parents and before I could really answer her, she suggested that her driver would come and pick me up-"

"Bit-"

"Wave!" Tikal snipped at her friend. "Please, don't comment till he's done."

"Yes, bi-"

"Wave..." Shadow warned, quickly surprising Wave _and_ himself. No one else noticed and Wave shot him a sly smirk before turning to Sonic. Shadow sighed. Great, and just when he thought things couldn't get worse than those pictures of him and Tikal sleeping in bed, this had to happen.

How annoying.

He tightened his grip on Tikal and the girl shrieked lowly.

This was partially her fault and he doubted exacting revenge on Wave would be good for his mental health.

Sonic continued on, seemingly overlooking the exchange between Wave and Shadow. "After that, we kinda had disagreements of course since I'm here. I just didn't expect her to do this so quickly, even though we were experiencing troubles before. "From the questioning looks they gave him, Sonic elaborated. "We were kinda distant after her birthday and just didn't see eye-to-eye. It was like talking to a darker version of me, who's kinda hot and female, but either way, it didn't really work out and I was considering dumping her before...so yeah. I guess that's it..." He chuckled to himself when everyone just kept staring at him. "Well, any critics?"

Wave stood from her duvet, sat on Silver intentionally, and patted Sonic's back. "Congrats, you've earned my respect again."

"When did he lose it?" Tikal asked. Fighting Shadow was useless now, and it was sort of comfortable in this position...

"The moment he hypothetically tied the knot with the queen of all skanks."

Sonic cringed. It kind of sounded rather weird hearing how Wave despised Sally. Amy gave him a look and he only shook it off as he scratched his neck.

"Well, I think it's great you aren't being held back anymore." Amy confessed carefully. She hoped that Sonic's grimace towards Wave's words wasn't because he still harboured feelings for Sally. "We kinda lost you for a while."

Silver nodded and then smiled at his friend. "Yeah, even Shadow was worried. Why'd you think he always threatened her?"

Sonic blinked. "I thought it was because he didn't like her."

"That and that he actually cared."

Wave scoffed. "Shadow? Caring? L.O.L"

Said male rolled his eyes at her.

"Oh!" Amy jumped up from her coverlet and quickly scrambled into the darkened halls. The remaining five shared looks of confusion for a while before the rosette returned, holding a box in blue wrapping and a bright red bow on it. She handed it to Sonic, with a big smile. It only grew larger as he had it in his hands.

He shook the box near his ear, hearing the slight rattling. He turned to Amy. "What's this?"

"Open it." She prompted and sat next to her crush. "You're going to love it."

"Oh, is it a vibrator?"

"Wave, just how deep are you in puberty?" Shadow queried, looking and feeling disgusted.

Wave only sent him another one of her infamous smirks. "You _really _wanna know Shadow? What you're doing right now with Tikal under there can't really be PG rated, can it?"

Tikal whimpered and sunk deeper into the covers. "Wave," she groused, feeling the temperature on her cheeks rise.

"Excuse me, but can we get back to Sonic and Amy's special moment?" Amy frantically waved her arms into the air and waited for everyone to turn back to the unopened box in Sonic's lap.

"Well, open it already." Wave incited, getting worn-out of waiting for the supposedly fast one gazing at the box as if he'd never seen a gift before.

"I'm just trying to understand why you bought me a gift Amy."

"It's not a vibrator Sonic." Amy commented, crossing her arms. "Silver would get that from Wave if she finds out his birthday."

Wave chuckled. "Guilty as charged." She turned to a blanching Silver and sly as ever, wiggled her eyebrows. He covered his face with his pillow and groaned.

"Well, before something happens, open it Sonic. You're really going to love it." Amy took the box from his lap and moved his hands into accepting the gift again.

Sonic slowly and cautiously pulled off the bow, suddenly aware that Amy had gone through spending her money to buy him something. He inwardly smiled to himself as he tried not ripping the wrapping paper and when he finally had the cover off, he looked at the brown, small box.

"Are you really trying to make me kill you Sonic?" Wave growled, fisting up her hands.

He only chuckled and quickly began opening the box and once he pulled out the rectangular object, his eyes widened when he realised it was a small digital camera. He turned to Amy, eyes wider.

Amy leaned back and smiled nervously. "Okay, it's not really new and all since it was mine before when I wanted to take photography, but it got broken and Rob was kind enough to fix it and it's just been in my room collecting dust. I didn't know what to do with it, so I brought it by mistake and I was like 'I might just give it to someone who'll take care of it' and you popped in my mind. I wasn't planning on-"

_Click!_

Amy blinked as Sonic watched the screen of his new camera. He smiled at the demure smile on the rosette's picture. "I love it Amy. Really, thanks. I almost forgot taking photos was my hobby." He watched the rosette and there, on what Amy thought was the greatest creation of a male, was a smile so much brighter than before. Her heart leaped in her chest. She really missed this Sonic. His contagious smile just made her feel so much better and she slowly believed that there really was a realistic chance of her and him getting together later in the future.

"So, nothing for us?" Wave asked, interrupting the smiley party.

* * *

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Wave wasn't going to allow him to escape. Oh no, not at all. Not after last night. Not when he left her questioning just what he had in store for her little Tikal. The poor girl had to be consoled by Sonic of all people since Silver had fallen asleep instantly and Amy was a bit too happy to even notice that their friend was being abused, in a sort of soft way of course, if you could say that. But whatever. Fact was, Tikal might just get a boyfriend and Wave wanted to be sure if Shadow was aware of a couple of things.

She leaned on the kitchen counter the next early morning, having woken up after Shadow and everyone else was fast, and deeply asleep in their comforters. Shadow was just getting a drink and immediately, his shoulders tensed when he saw just who was awake.

_Please tell me she smirks when she's sleep walking._

"You and Tikal huh?"

He sighed, this just wasn't his day – or night, whatever.

Though, he had to keep his cool. If not, he should at least try to avoid a conversation as much as possible. After all, he couldn't possibly explain his earlier defending of Tikal to himself, much less Wave, the judge of anything that happens around and honestly, he just didn't need cynicism.

"I've got no idea what you're talking about."

Wave lightly slammed her palms on the counter, not trying to wake anyone to ruin her interrogation. Her face contorting into what seemed as a smirk and a sneer combined. "Don't try to act all dark about this Shads. I know you're just venting out on Tikal for the things she did to you a couple months back, but tonight was really different, right? Did you enjoy it for a little while?"

His ruby gaze narrowed into slits before he smirked. "Tormenting her? Yes, very much."

"Cut the crap." Wave snapped, not too angry but still peeved. Shadow gritted his teeth. Whatever means she had to have him spill something he wasn't even sure of, he wasn't going to just give up. He wasn't going to be pushed, especially not from Wave.

He really wished he hadn't found respect for her. If he hadn't, he would be enjoying annoying her and making her feel agitated with wanting to know what he thought.

Sometimes he really wondered why friendship was invented. It ruined much fun on his part.

"Look Wave, I've got no idea why you think there's something other than hate between me and Tikal-"

"Um, hello, you cuddle. Do you cuddle with Sally as well?"

He felt deeply insulted and disgusted as well. "That's revolting."

"Precisely," Wave smirked, leaning even more forward. "So, are you finally pulling out your shell? I saw how you put your jacket over Tikal's back. You really care about her, right?"

"I don't care about anyone but myself." He barked angrily. Why did he suddenly feel cornered?

Wave was clearly unconvinced with his words and she wasn't going to back down until she gets something productive out his mouth. She was tired of guessing what he thought of people. Well, he hated Sally, but other than that, Shadow was sort of hard to read. That time in the cafeteria was just her general view of him, and she didn't really know him then. Sadly, the more she got to know him, the more enigmatic he became. That infuriated her eagerness to know stuff.

"So?"

"So what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Are you going to tell me about what really got you into making Tikal your _hypothetical_ sex slave?"

He looked exasperated. "Is that going to be the word of the week?"

She smirked, nodding slowly. "Yes, but don't avoid the question."

"I-"

"What are you doing up?"

Shadow stopped himself from answering as he saw Tikal wobble her way into the kitchen doorway, practically half asleep as she rubbed her eyes. She didn't seem to notice him, only looking at Wave in her drowsy state. She kind of looked cute...wait, he did not think that. It was impossible. It was official now. He was losing brain cells from sleep deprivation.

Wave sneered, hating being interrupted from her cross-examinations until something flickered in her head. She quickly looked between Tikal and Shadow and before the latter could shoot down whatever she was going to say with a warning glare, Wave had grabbed Tikal, jolting the girl more awake with a shake.

"Tikal," she squealed loudly and groans escaped the rest of their sleeping friends causing their eyes to travel towards them in the kitchen doorway. Tikal only blinked, sort of shocked. "Guess what Shadow told me? You know that weird Russian restaurant in Station Square right? Well Shadow told me he was going to take you there when school starts. Isn't that great?"

Shadow, for the first time, paled. Wave couldn't be serious. She just can't be. Him and Tikal...on a date of all things. Did Wave really want him to kill her friend?

"He said that?" Tikal wasn't really sure how she was going to understand it.

"He said that?" Amy asked from her covers, still fumbling with them.

"He said that?" Sonic perked up, grinning wildly.

Oddly enough, Silver was still asleep. Wave rolled her eyes. He sleeps like a frigging log. She'd fill him on this later.

"I didn't say a thing!" Shadow protested and before he could get the upper hand, Wave slapped his back, making him splutter slightly. He growled and glared at her. Never had he wanted to kill someone this much.

"Shadow, don't be so shy!" She shamelessly blushed, or pretended to. She just had to be drunk on sleep. Shadow didn't know any other way to explain why she was acting so Amy-ish. "Of course you asked me to help you and by doing this, you and Tikal can finally date. It's been your dream right?"

"I find it surprisingly odd that Shadow dreamt of Tikal..." Sonic remarked dryly.

"I find it surprisingly creepy that Silver is still asleep through all this." Amy exclaimed, poking her sleeping friend who only mumbled cutely and turned away. Her gaze softened. "Aww,"

Sonic growled lowly, which didn't go unnoticed to Wave. She inwardly grinned mischievously. Next on her hit list was Sonic. Yay.

Shadow harshly pulled Wave aside, making a face Wave deemed was supposed to scare her. "Just what exactly are you trying to do?"

She stared at him and slowly removed his hand from her arm. She kept her gaze on him though. "Easy, revenge."

"What?"

"Truth and Dare." She reminded him.

"I wasn't part of it!" He hissed angrily.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "So? I can't really do something to Amy. It feels wrong and Tikal is way too motherly to do something bad to her. Silver isn't really part of it either, but I like him better than you. So yeah. Why not just go with the flow hmm?"

"It's stupid!"

"You're going to thank me for this later." She patted his hand reassuringly which only made Shadow more wary. Catching his look, her smile faltered. "Seriously, trust me on this."

And again, before he had the time to drag her into a room and kill her, Wave sidestepped him and gave her attention back to a still shocked wide-awake Tikal. "So, how about it? Do I hear a yes?"

Poor girl was still confused. "Yes?"

"So it's a yes?"

"I...guess..."

Wave's smile reached ear to ear from hearing that. Amy could only watch, unsure if she should remind Tikal to what she just unsurely agreed too. Sonic only stared straight-faced, also uncertain with what to do. Laughing while Shadow looked homicidal really wouldn't be wise but doing nothing was also weird for him, so he was stumped. Silver gurgled slightly and sunk deeper into his covers.

* * *

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"No."

"But Wave!"

"Nope." She said, popping the 'p'. "You two will go out and that's final." She smiled impishly at Tikal as they quickly strode towards the dock, Amy upfront, waiting impatiently to get in the water and the boys hesitantly walking behind them, Shadow and Sonic understandably further away.

Well, Sonic was uncannily afraid of water and Silver, after being filled in with what Wave did through the night, thought it was better if Shadow doesn't step any closer to Tikal and especially Wave.

Tikal worked her lower lip and hesitantly turned around and squeaked when she received Shadow's boring red gaze. She quickly ran towards Amy, immediately stripping off her shorts and baggy shirt and jumped into the lake. She broke surface later and watched Amy give her a funny look and Wave laughing with Silver.

Wave shook her head in mirth. "Geez Tikal, it looked like you just saw a ghost."

"I saw death alright..." The girl rumbled, moving into the lake, quite aware that Shadow still kept his heated stare on her head.

Wave only shrugged and dropped her towel from her body, showing the pastel purple one-piece she brought with. She quickly dived into the water, only popping up seconds later next to Tikal. The girl giggled when she saw Tikal swim away in surprise.

"What's up with you?" Amy yelled at her friend and then turned to Shadow quickly, who was immersed in a novel, hiding the glare only Tikal knew about, before she turned to the scared girl. "Oh, I get it."

Tikal brightened up. "You do?" Finally, understanding!

"P.D.S, duh!"

"Speak English Ames. English." Wave deadpanned.

"Pre-Dating Syndrome! It's like the common thing with the slightly shy girls. Don't worry Tikal, I and Wave aren't going to allow stupid nervousness ruin your future date with Shadow, 'kay?"

Tikal felt like she just grieved. She sank deeper into the lake. "Can somebody please shoot me now?"

"Yes, please." Shadow darkly mumbled and Tikal wasn't sure if anyone heard him besides her, and she was the _furthest_ away.

Propping the lawn chairs a couple of feet away from the dock; Sonic slowly set his gaze on Amy. She was in a two-piece and he had to look away whenever she bent down at some sort of angle to get something. It was a deep pink, matching her rosy locks and somehow bringing focus on her greenish eyes. He breathed in slowly. Okay, he just didn't need to look – wait, what was Silver doing?

Did he just join Amy and Wave in the water?

"Silvs?"

His whitish matted hair popped up at the call of his name and his eerily yellow eyes sought out towards Sonic. A small, demure smile making itself known on his face as Sonic watched flabbergasted.

"Hypocrite!"

"What? Amy asked if I wanted to join and the water looks soothing!"

"You can't swim and what do you mean that Amy asked?" He would have continued had Wave not splashed water towards him. He rushed away, moving towards Shadow, who really didn't make him feel better since he drew his glare away from his book (Did the good guy win?) and turned it to him.

"If I feel any drop of water on me Sonic..." He snarled heatedly and turned back to the story, not finishing his threat and Sonic, with slightly wobbly legs, went back to his lawn chair.

"Oi Sonic, you're jealous right?" The blunette got slightly shocked from seeing Wave, all wet and dripping, looking down on him. He involuntarily shot a look at Amy as she laughed with Silver, who was sitting on an inflated lifesaver. "You're glaring Sonic."

"I-I'm not glaring!" He protested towards Wave but she only quirked a brow.

"So you aren't jealous?"

"I didn't say that." Sonic grumbled, looking away when Wave snickered and patted his back.

"Don't worry about it. Their relationship is platonic." She cut herself off for a while. "For the meantime, that is."

"Wave," Sonic slapped his face into his palms, grousing. "You aren't helping!"

"Never mentioned I was, love."

"Then why are you here? To torment me?"

Wave shrugged, not really sure herself. Maybe it was because he was being all girly with his fear of water. She did want Sonic to grow some courage and get in the water with Amy, but that was sort of asking too much. Shadow really didn't look approachable and Wave doubted her asking him would change his mind from leaving his book alone. Besides, she highly believed if Tikal swam any closer to him, he'd drown her.

"I guess, I wanted to tell you not to worry...?" Well, she wasn't sure that was really correct, but oh well. "Yeah, wanting you not worry...that's the reason I'm here."

"Worry about?"

She smacked him upside the head, just like Silver. "Think about it. You're glaring at _Silver_ and Amy together. Don't you think it's weird to worry about it?"

"I don't get it." Seriously he didn't and he sure hoped Wave wasn't playing him.

The girl rolled her eyes, quickly categorizing males as impossible. Honestly, what's so hard not to get? Ugh, so infuriating. She crouched down and held Sonic's shoulders, shaking him so he could divert his gaze away from the water and onto her, once, serious eyes.

"Sonic, You. Are. Crushing. On. Amy. Rose." She narrowed her eyes when he didn't look traumatized or surprised by that. So he knew...? She pursed her lips. "_Deeply_," Surprisingly, that jolted his nerves. He looked gobsmacked, very, very gobsmacked.

She stood with a satisfied smile.

Mission Accomplished.

Messing with people was so _much _fun!

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**Hope it pleased ^.^**


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